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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

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C-ORDON  H.   BALL 


DECREES  AND 
CONSTITUTION 

OF  = 

SOVIET  RUSSIA 


Reprinted  from 

The  Nation 


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DFXREES  AND 
CONSTITUTION 

=OF 

SOVIET  RUSSIA 


Reprinted   from 

The  Nation 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/decreesconstitutOOrussiala 


JW 

Mo. 


Constitution 

of  the 

Russian  Socialist  Federal 
Soviet  Republic 

The  following  translation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Rus- 
sian Soviet  Republic  is  made  from  an  official  printed  text 
embodying  the  latest  revisions,  and  required  by  law  to  be 
posted  in  all  public  places  in  Russia. 

Resolution  of  the  5th  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets,  Adopted  on  July  10,  1918. 

'"pHE  declaration  of  rights  of  the  laboring  and  exploited  peo- 
-*-  pie  (approved  by  the  third  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets 
in  January,  1918),  together  with  the  Constitution  of  the  Soviet 
Republic,  approved  by  the  fifth  Congress,  constitutes  a  single 
fundamental  law  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet 
Republic. 

This  fundamental  law  becomes  effective  upon  the  publication 
of  the  same  in  its  entirety  in  the  "Izvestia  of  the  All-Russian 
General  Executive  Committee."  It  must  be  published  by  all 
organs  of  the  Soviet  Government  and  must  be  posted  in  a  promi- 
nent place  in  every  Soviet  institution. 

The  fifth  Congress  instructs  the  People's  Commissariat  of 
Education  to  introduce  in  all  schools  and  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  Russian  Republic  the  study  and  explanation  of  the 
basic  principles  of  this  Constitution. 

3 

652122 


Article  One 

DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS  OF  THE  LABORING  AND 

EXPLOITED  PEOPLE 

Chapter  One 

1.  Russia  is  declared  to  be  a  Republic  of  the  Soviets  of  Work- 
ers', Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies.  All  the  central  and  local 
power  belongs  to  these  Soviets. 

2.  The  Russian  Soviet  Republic  is  organized  on  the  basis  of 
a  free  union  of  free  nations,  as  a  federation  of  Soviet  national 
republics. 

Chapter  Two 

3.  Bearing  in  mind  as  its  fundamental  problem  the  abolition 
of  the  exploitation  of  men  by  men,  the  entire  abolition  of  the  divi- 
sion of  the  people  into  classes,  the  suppression  of  exploiters,  the 
establishment  of  a  Socialist  society,  and  the  victory  of  socialism 
in  all  lands,  the  third  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  of  Work- 
ers', Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies  further  resolves: 

(a)  For  the  purpose  of  attaining  the  socialization  of  land,  all 
private  property  in  land  is  abolished,  and  the  entire  land  is  de- 
clared to  be  national  property  and  is  to  be  apportioned  among 
agriculturists  without  any  compensation  to  the  former  owners, 
in  the  measure  of  each  one's  ability  to  till  it. 

(b)  All  forests,  treasures  of  the  earth,  and  waters  of  general 
public  utility,  all  equipment  whether  animate  or  inanimate, 
model  farms  and  agricultural  enterprises,  are  declared  to  be 
national  property. 

(c)  As  a  first  step  toward  complete  transfer  of  ownership 
to  the  Soviet  Republic  of  all  factories,  mills,  mines,  railways, 
and  other  means  of  production  and  transportation,  the  Soviet 
law  for  the  control  by  workmen  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Supreme  Soviet  of  National  Economy  is  hereby  confirmed,  so 
as  to  insure  the  power  of  the  workers  over  the  exploiters. 

(d)  With  reference  to  international  banking  and  finance,  the 
third  Congress  of  Soviets  is  discussing  the  Soviet  decree  re- 
garding the  annulment  of  loans  made  by  the  Government  of  the 
Czar,  by  landowners  and  the  bourgeoisie,  and  it  trusts  that  the 
Soviet  Government  will  firmly  follow  this  course  until  the  final 
victory  of  the  international  workers'  revolt  against  the  oppres- 
sion of  capital. 

(e)  The  transfer  of  all  banks  to  the  ownership  of  the  Work- 
ers' and  Peasants'  Government,  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  the 


liberation  of  the  toiling  masses  from  the  yoke  of  capital,  is  con- 
firmed. 

(f )  Universal  obligation  to  work  is  introduced  for  the  purpose 
of  eliminating  the  parasitic  strata  of  society  and  organizing  the 
economic  life  of  the  country. 

(g)  For  the  purpose  of  securing  the  working  class  in  the  pos- 
session of  complete  power,  and  in  order  to  eliminate  all 
possibility  of  restoring  the  power  of  the  exploiters,  it  is  decreed 
that  all  workers  be  armed,  and  that  a  Socialist  Red  Army  be  or- 
ganized and  the  propertied  class  disarmed. 

Chapter  Three 

4.  Expressing  its  fixed  resolve  to  liberate  mankind  from  the 
grip  of  capital  and  imperialism,  which  flooded  the  earth  with 
blood  in  its  present  most  criminal  of  all  wars,  the  third  Con- 
gress of  Soviets  fully  agrees  with  the  Soviet  Government  in  its 
policy  of  abrogating  secret  treaties,  of  organizing  on  a  wide  scale 
the  fraternization  of  the  workers  and  peasants  of  the  belligerent 
armies,  and  of  making  all  efforts  to  conclude  a  general  demo- 
cratic peace  without  annexations  or  indemnities,  upon  the  basis 
of  the  free  determination  of  peoples. 

5.  It  is  also  to  this  end  that  the  third  Congress  of  Soviets 
insists  upon  putting  an  end  to  the  barbarous  policy  of  the  bour- 
geois civilization  which  enables  the  exploiters  of  a  few  chosen 
nations  to  enslave  hundreds  of  millions  of  the  working  population 
of  Asia,  of  the  colonies,  and  of  small  countries  generally. 

6.  The  third  Congress  of  Soviets  hails  the  policy  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  People's  Commissars  in  proclaiming  the  full  independence 
of  Finland,  in  withdrawing  troops  from  Persia,  and  in  proclaim- 
ing the  right  of  Armenia  to  self-determination. 

Chapter  Four 

7.  The  third  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  of  Workers', 
Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies  believes  that  now,  during  the 
progress  of  the  decisive  battle  between  the  proletariat  and  its 
exploiters,  the  exploiters  should  not  hold  a  position  in  any  branch 
of  the  Soviet  Government.  The  power  must  belong  entirely  to 
the  toiling  masses  and  to  their  plenipotentiary  representatives— 
the  Soviets  of  Workers',  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies. 

8.  In  its  effort  to  create  a  league — free  and  voluntary,  and 
for  that  reason  all  the  more  complete  and  secure — of  the  work- 
ing classes  of  all  the  peoples  of  Russia,  the  third  Congress  of 
Soviets  merely  establishes  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Federation  of  Russian  Soviet  Republics,  leaving  to  the  workers 
and  peasants  of  every  people  to*  decide  the  following  question 


at  their  plenary  sessions  of  their  Soviets,  namely,  whether  or  not 
they  desire  to  participate,  and  on  what  basis,  in  the  Federal 
Government  and  other  Federal  Soviet  institutions. 

Article  Two 

GENERAL  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF 

THE   RUSSIAN    SOCIALIST   FEDERAL 

SOVIET  REPUBLIC 

Chapter  Five 

9.  The  fundamental  problem  of  the  constitution  of  the  Rus- 
sian Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  involves,  in  view  of  the 
present  transition  period,  the  establishment  of  a  dictatorship 
of  the  urban  and  rural  proletariat  and  the  poorest  peasantry  in 
the  form  of  a  powerful  All-Russian  Soviet  authority,  for  the 
purpose  of  abolishing  the  exploitation  of  men  by  men  and  of  in- 
troducing socialism,  in  which  there  will  be  neither  a  division 
into  classes  nor  a  state  of  autocracy. 

10.  The  Russian  Republic  is  a  free  Socialist  society  of  all  the 
working  people  of  Russia.  The  entire  power,  within  the  boun- 
daries of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic,  be- 
longs to  all  the  working  people  of  Russia,  united  in  urban  and 
rural  Soviets. 

11.  The  Soviets  of  those  regions  which  differentiate  them- 
selves by  a  special  form  of  existence  and  national  character  may 
unite  in  autonomous  regional  unions,  ruled  by  the  local  Congress 
of  the   Soviets  and  their  executive  organs. 

These  autonomous  regional  unions  participate  in  the  Russian 
Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  upon  a  federal  basis. 

12.  The  supreme  power  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet 
Republic  belongs  to  the  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets,  and, 
in  periods  between  the  convocation  of  the  Congress,  to  the  All- 
Russian  Central   Executive  Committee. 

13.  For  the  purpose  of  securing  to  the  workers  real  freedom  of 
conscience,  the  church  is  to  be  separated  from  the  state  and  the 
school  from  the  church,  and  the  right  of  religious  and  anti-re- 
ligious propaganda  is  accorded  to  every  citizen. 

14.  For  the  purpose  of  securing  freedom  of  expression  to  the 
toiling  masses,  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic 
abolishes  all  dependence  of  the  press  upon  capital,  and  turns 
over  to  the  working  people  and  the  poorest  peasantry  all  tech- 
nical  and   material  means   for  the  publication   of  newspapers, 


pamphlets,   books,   etc.,   and   guarantees   their  free   circulation 
throughout  the  country. 

15.  For  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  workers  to  hold  free 
meetings,  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  offers 
to  the  working  class  and  to  the  poorest  peasantry  furnished 
halls,  and  takes  care  of  their  heating  and  lighting  appliances. 

16.  The  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic,  having 
crushed  the  economic  and  political  power  of  the  propertied 
classes,  and  having  thus  abolished  all  obstacles  which  interfered 
with  the  freedom  of  organization  and  action  of  the  workers  and 
peasants,  offers  assistance,  material  and  other,  to  the  workers 
and  the  poorest  peasantry  in  their  effort  to  unite  and  organize. 

17.  For  the  purpose  of  guaranteeing  to  the  workers  real  ac- 
cess to  knowledge,  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Re- 
public sets  itself  the  task  of  furnishing  full  and  general  free 
education  to  the  workers  and  the  poorest  peasantry.' 

18.  The  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  considers 
work  the  duty  of  every  citizen  of  the  Republic,  and  proclaims 
as  its  motto:  "He  shall  not  eat  who  does  not  work." 

19.  For  the  purpose  of  defending  the  victory  of  the  great 
peasants'  and  workers'  revolution,  the  Russian  Socialist  Feder- 
al Soviet  Republic  recognizes  the  duty  of  all  citizens  of  the 
Republic  to  come  to  the  defence  of  their  Socialist  Fatherland, 
and  it  therefore  introduces  universal  military  training.  The 
honor  of  defending  the  revolution  with  arms  is  accorded  only  to 
the  workers,  and  the  non-working  elements  are  charged  with  the 
performance  of  other  military  duties. 

20.  In  consequence  of  the  solidarity  of  the  workers  of  all  na- 
tions, the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  grants 
all  political  rights  of  Russian  citizens  to  foreigners  who  live  in 
the  territory  of  the  Russian  Republic  and  are  engaged  in  work 
and  who  belong  to  the  working  class.  The  Russian  Socialist 
Federal  Soviet  Republic  also  recognizes  the  right  of  local  Soviets 
to  grant  citizenship  to  such  foreigners  without  complicated  for- 
mality. 

21.  The  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  offers 
shelter  to  all  foreigners  who  seek  refuge  from  political  or  reli- 
gious persecution. 

22.  The  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic,  recogniz- 
ing the  equal  rights  of  all  citizens,  irrespective  of  their  racial  or 
national  connections,  proclaims  all  privileges  on  this  ground,  as 
well  as  oppression  of  national  minorities,  to  be  contrary  to  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  Republic. 


23.  Being  guided  by  the  interests  of  the  working  class  as  a 
whole,  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  deprives 
all  individuals  and  groups  of  rights  which  could  be  utilized  by 
them  to  the  detriment  of  the  Socialist  Revolution. 

Article  Three 

ORGANIZATION   OF  THE   SOVIET  POWER 
A.     ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CENTRAL  POWER 

Chapter  Six 

The  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  of  Workers',  Peasants', 

Cossacks',  and  Red  Army  Deputies 

24.  The  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  is  the  supreme  power 
of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

25.  The  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  is  composed  of  rep- 
resentatives of  urban  Soviets  (one  delegate  for  25,000  voters), 
and  of  representatives  of  the  provincial  (Gubemia)  congresses 
of  Soviets  (one  delegate  for  125,000  inhabitants). 

Note  1:  In  case  the  Provincial  Congress  is  not  called  before 
the  All-Russian  Congress  is  convoked,  delegates  for  the  latter 
are  sent  directly  from  the  County  (Ouezd)  Congress. 

Note  2:  In  case  the  Regional  (Oblast)  Congress  is  convoked 
indirectly,  previous  to  the  convocation  of  the  All-Russian  Con- 
gress, delegates  for  the  latter  may  be  sent  by  the  Regional 
Congress. 

26.  The  All-Russian  Congress  is  convoked  by  the  All-Russian 
Central  Executive  Committee  at  least  twice  a  year. 

27.  A  special  All-Russian  Congress  is  convoked  by  the  All- 
Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  upon  its  own  initiative,  or 
upon  the  request  of  local  Soviets  having  not  less  than  one-third 
of  the  entire  population  of  the  Republic. 

28.  The  All-Russian  Congress  elects  an  All-Russian  Central 
Executive  Committee  of  not  more  than  200  members. 

29.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  is  entirely 
responsible  to  the  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets. 

30.  In  the  periods  between  the  convocation  of  the  Congresses, 
the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  is  the  supreme 
power  of  the  Republic. 

Chapter  Seven 
The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee 

31.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  is  the  su- 
preme legislative,  executive,  and  controlling  organ  of  the  Russian 
Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

8 


32.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  directs  in 
a  general  way  the  activity  of  the  Workers'  and  Peasants'  Govern- 
ment and  of  all  organs  of  the  Soviet  authority  in  the  country, 
and  it  coordinates  and  regulates  the  operation  of  the  Soviet 
Constitution  and  of  the  resolutions  of  the  all-Russian  Con- 
gresses and  of  the  central  organs  of  the  Soviet  power. 

33.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  considers 
and  enacts  all  measures  and  proposals  introduced  by  the  Soviet 
of  People's  Commissars  or  by  the  various  departments,  and  it 
also  issues  its  own  decrees  and  regulations. 

34.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  convokes 
the  Ail-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets,  at  which  time  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  reports  on  its  activity  and  on  general  questions. 

35.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  forms  a 
Council  of  People's  Commissars  for  the  purpose  of  general  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet 
Republic,  and  it  also  forms  departments  (People's  Commis- 
sariats) for  the  purpose  of  conducting  various  branches. 

36.  The  members  of  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Com- 
mittee work  in  the  various  departments  (People's  Commissari- 
ats) or  execute  special  orders  of  the  All-Russian  Central  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

Chapter  Eight 
The  Council  of  People's  Commissars 

37.  The  Council  of  People's  Commissars  is  entrusted  with  the 
general  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

38.  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  task  the  Council  of  Peo- 
ple's Commissars  issues  decrees,  resolutions,  orders,  and,  in  gen- 
eral, takes  all  steps  necessary  for  the  proper  and  rapid  conduct 
of  government  affairs. 

39.  The  Council  of  People's  Commissars  notifies  immediately 
the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  of  all  its  orders 
and  resolutions. 

40.  The  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  has  the 
right  to  revoke  or  suspend  all  orders  and  resolutions  of  the 
Council  of  People's  Commissars. 

41.  All  orders  and  resolutions  of  the  Council  of  People's  Com- 
missars of  great  political  significance  are  referred  for  con- 
sideration and  final  approval  to  the  All-Russian  Central  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

Note:  Measures  requiring  immediate  execution  may  ue  en- 
acted directly  by  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars. 

9 


42.  The  members  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars  stand 
at  the  head  of  the  various  People's  Commissariats. 

43.  There  are  seventeen  People's  Commissars:  (a)  Foreign 
Affairs;  (b)  Army,  (c)  Navy,  (d)  Interior,  (e)  Justice,  (f) 
Labor,  (g)  Social  Welfare,  (h)  Education,  (i)  Post  and  Tele- 
graph, (j)  National  Affairs,  (k)  Finances,  (1)  Ways  of  Com- 
munication, (m)  Agriculture,  (n)  Commerce  and  Industry,  (o) 
National  Supplies,  (p)  State  Control,  (q)  Supreme  Soviet  of 
National  Economy,  (r)  Public  Health. 

44.  Every  Commissar  has  a  Collegium  [Committee]  of  which 
he  is  the  President,  and  the  members  of  which  are  appointed  by 
the  Council  of  People's  Commissars. 

45.  A  People's  Commissar  has  the  individual  right  to  decide 
on  all  questions  under  the  jurisdiction  of  his  Commissariat,  and 
he  is  to  report  on  his  decision  to  the  Collegium.  If  the  Collegium 
does  not  agree  with  the  Commissar  on  some  decisions,  the  former 
may,  without  stopping  the  execution  of  the  decision,  complain  of 
it  to  the  executive  members  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commis- 
sars or  to  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee. 

Individual  members  of  the  Collegium  have  this  right  also. 

46.  The  Council  of  People's  Commissars  is  entirely  responsible 
to  the  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  and  the  All-Russian  Cen- 
tral 'Executive  Committee. 

47.  The  People's  Commissars  and  the  Collegia  of  the  People's 
Commissariats  are  entirely  responsible  to  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissars  and  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee. 

48.  The  title  of  People's  Commissar  belongs  only  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars,  which  is  in  charge 
of  general  affairs  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet 
Republic,  and  it  cannot  be  used  by  any  other  representative  of 
the  Soviet  power,  either  central  or  local. 

Chapter  Nine 

Affairs  in  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  All-Russian  Congress  and  the 

All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee 

49.  The  All-Russian   Congress  and  the  All-Russian   Central 
Executive  Committee  deal  with  questions  of  state,  such  as: 

(a)  Ratification  and  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

(b)  General  direction  of  the  entire  interior  and  foreign  policy 
of  the  Russian   Socialist   Federal  Soviet   Republic. 

(c)  Establishing  and  changing  boundaries,  also  ceding  terri- 
tory belonging  to  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

10 


(d)  Establishing  boundaries  for  regional  Soviet  unions  belong- 
ing to  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic,  also  set- 
tling disputes  among  them. 

(e)  Admission  of  new  members  to  the  Russian  Socialist  Feder- 
al Soviet  Republic,  and  recognition  of  the  secession  of  any 
parts  of  it. 

(f )  The  general  administrative  division  of  the  territory  of  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  and  the  approval 
of  regional  unions. 

(g)  Establishing  and  changing  weights,  measures,  and  money 
denominations  in  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

(h)  Foreign  relations,  declaration  of  war,  and  ratification  of 
peace  treaties. 

(i)  Making  loans,  signing  commercial  treaties  and  financial 
agreements. 

(j)  Working  out  a  basis  and  a  general  plan  for  the  national 
economy  and  for  its  various  branches  in  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

(k)  Approval  of  the  budget  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal 
Soviet  Republic. 

(1)  Levying  taxes  and  establishing  the  duties  of  citizens  to  the 
state. 

(m)  Establishing  the  bases  for  the  organization  of  armed 
forces. 

(n)  State  legislation,  judicial  organization  and  procedure,  civil 
and  criminal  legislation,  etc. 

(o)  Appointment  and  dismissal  of  the  individual  People's  Com- 
missars or  the  entire  Council,  also  approval  of  the  President  of 
the  Council  of  People's  Commissars. 

(p)  Granting  and  cancelling  Russian  citizenship  and  fixing 
rights  of  foreigners. 

(q)   The  right  to  declare  individual  and  general  amnesty. 

50.  Besides  the  above-mentioned  questions,  the  All-Russian 
Congress  and  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  have 
charge  of  all  other  affairs  which,  according  to  their  decision, 
require  their  attention. 

51.  The  following  questions  are  solely  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  All-Russian  Congress: 

(a)  Ratification  and  amendment  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Soviet  Constitution. 

(b)  Ratification  of  peace  treaties. 

52.  The  decision  of  questions  indicated  in  Paragraphs  (c)  and 
(h)  of  Section  49  may  be  made  by  the  All-Russian  Central  Exec- 

11 


utive  Committee  only  in  case  it  is  impossible  to  convoke  the 
Congress. 

B.     ORGANIZATION  OF  LOCAL  SOVIETS 

Chapter  Ten 

The  Congresses  of  the  Soviets 

53.  Congresses  of  Soviets  are  composed  as  follows: 

(a)  Regional:  of  representatives  of  the  urban  and  county 
Soviets,  one  representative  for  25,000  inhabitants  of  the  county, 
and  one  representative  for  5,000  voters  of  the  cities — but  not 
more  than  500  representatives  for  the  entire  region— or  of 
representatives  of  the  provincial  Congresses,  chosen  on  the  same 
basis,  if  such  a  Congress  meets  before  the  regional  Congress. 

(b)  Provincial  (Gubernia) :  of  representatives  of  urban  and 
rural  (Volost)  Soviets,  one  representative  for  10,000  inhabitants 
from  the  rural  districts,  and  one  representative  for  2,000  voters 
in  the  city;  altogether  not  more  than  300  representatives  for 
the  entire  province.  In  case  the  county  Congress  meets  before 
the  provincial,  election  takes  place  on  the  same  basis,  but  by  the 
county  Congress  instead  of  the  rural. 

(c)  County:  of  representatives  of  rural  Soviets,  one  delegate 
for  each  1,000  inhabitants,  but  not  more  than  300  delegates  for 
the  entire  county. 

(d)  Rural  (Volost):  of  representatives  of  all  village  Soviets 
in  the  Volost,  one  delegate  for  ten  members  of  the  Soviet. 

Note  1:  Representatives  of  urban  Soviets  which  have  a  popu- 
lation of  not  more  than  10,000  persons  participate  in  the  county 
Congress;  village  Soviets  of  districts  of  less  than  1,000  inhabi- 
tants unite  for  the  purpose  of  electing  delegates  to  the  county 
Congress. 

Note  2 :  Rural  Soviets  of  less  than  ten  members  send  one  dele- 
gate to  the  rural  (Volost)  Congress. 

54.  Congresses  of  the  Soviets  are  convoked  by  the  respective 
Executive  Committees  upon  their  own  initiative,  or  upon  request 
of  local  Soviets  comprising  not  less  than  one-third  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  given  district.  In  any  case  they  are  convoked 
at  least  twice  a  year  for  regions,  every  three  months  for  prov- 
inces and  counties,  and  once  a  month  for  rural  districts. 

55.  Every  Congress  of  Soviets  (regional,  provincial,  county, 
or  rural)  elects  its  Executive  organ — an  Executive  Committee 
the  membership  of  which  shall  not  exceed:  (a)  for  regions  and 
provinces,  twenty-five;  (b)  for  a  county,  twenty;  (c)  for  a  rural 
district,  ten.  The  Executive  Committee  is  responsible  to  the  Con- 
gress which  elected  it. 

12 


56.  In  the  boundaries  of  the  respective  territories  the  Con- 
gress is  the  supreme  power;  during  intervals  between  the  con- 
vocations of  the  Congress,  the  Executive  Committee  is  the  su- 
preme power. 

Chapter  Eleven 
•  The  Soviet  of  Deputies 

57.  Soviets  of  Deputies  are  formed: 

(a)  In  cities,  one  deputy  for  each  1,000  inhabitants;  the  total 
to  be  not  less  than  fifty  and  not  more  than  1,000  members. 

(b)  All  other  settlements  (towns,  villages,  hamlets,  etc.)  of 
less  than  10,000  inhabitants,  one  deputy  for  each  100  inhabi- 
tants ;  the  total  to  be  not  less  than  three  and  not  more  than  fifty 
deputies  for  each  settlement. 

Term  of  the  deputy,  three  months. 

Note:  In  small  rural  sections,  whenever  possible,  all  questions 
shall  be  decided  at  general  meetings  of  voters. 

58.  The  Soviet  of  Deputies  elects  an  Executive  Committee  to 
deal  with  current  affairs ;  not  more  than  five  members  for  rural 
districts,  one  for  every  fifty  members  of  the  Soviets  of  cities,  but 
not  more  than  fifteen  and  not  less  than  three  in  the  aggregate 
(Petrograd  and  Moscow  not  more  than  forty).  The  Executive 
Committee  is  entirely  responsible  to  the  Soviet  which  elected  it. 

59.  The  Soviet  of  Deputies  is  convoked  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee upon  its  own  initiative,  or  upon  the  request  of  not  less 
than  one-half  of  the  membership  of  the  Soviet;  in  any  case  at 
least  once  a  week  in  cities,  and  twice  a  week  in  rural  sections. 

60.  Within  its  jurisdiction  the  Soviet,  and  in  cases  mentioned 
in  Section  57,  Note,  the  meeting  of  the  voters  is  the  supreme 
power  in  the  given  district. 

Chapter  Twelve 
Jurisdiction  of  the  local  organs  of  the  Soviets 

61.  Regional,  provincial,  county,  and  rural  organs  of  the 
Soviet  power  and  also  the  Soviets  of  Deputies  have  to  perform 
the  following  duties: 

(a)  Carry  out  all  orders  of  the  respective  higher  organs  of  the 
Soviet  power. 

(b)  Take  all  steps  for  raising  the  cultural  and  economic 
standard  of  the  given  territory. 

(c)  Decide  all  questions  of  local  importance  within  their  re- 
spective territories. 

(d)  Coordinate  all  Soviet  activity  in  their  respective  terri- 
tories. 

13 


62.  The  Congresses  of  Soviets  and  their  Executive  Committees 
have  the  right  to  control  the  activity  of  the  local  Soviets  (i.  e., 
the  regional  Congress  controls  all  Soviets  of  the  respective  re- 
gion; the  provincial,  of  the  respective  province,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  urban  Soviets,  etc.) ;  and  the  regional  and  provincial 
Congresses  and  their  Executive  Committees  have  in  addition  the 
right  to  overrule  the  decisions  of  the  Soviets  of  their  districts, 
giving  notice  in  important  cases  to  the  central  Soviet  authority. 

63.  For  the  purpose  of  performing  their  duties,  the  local 
Soviets,  rural  and  urban,  and  the  Executive  Committees  form 
sections  respectively. 

Article  Four 

THE   RIGHT  TO  VOTE. 

Chapter  Thirteen. 

64.  The  right  to  vote  and  to  be  elected  to  the  Soviets  is  en- 
joyed by  the  following  citizens  of  both  sexes,  irrespective  of 
religion,  nationality,  domicile,  etc.,  of  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federal  Soviet  Republic,  who  shall  have  completed  their  eigh- 
teenth year  by  the  day  of  election: 

(a)  All  who  have  acquired  the  means  of  livelihood  through 
labor  that  is  productive  and  useful  to  society,  and  also  persons 
engaged  in  housekeeping  which  enables  the  former  to  do  pro- 
ductive work,  i.  e.,  laborers  and  employees  of  all  classes  who  are 
employed  in  industry,  trade,  agriculture,  etc.,  and  peasants  and 
Cossack  agricultural  laborers  who  employ  no  help  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  profits. 

(b)  Soldiers  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  Soviets. 

(c)  Citizens  of  the  two  preceding  categories  who  have  in  any 
degree  lost  their  capacity  to  work. 

Note  1:  Local  Soviets  may,  upon  approval  of  the  central 
power,  lower  the  age  standard  mentioned  herein. 

Note  2:  Non-citizens  mentioned  in  Section  20  (Article  Two, 
Chapter  5)  have  the  right  to  vote. 

65.  The  following  persons  enjoy  neither  the  right  to  vote  nor 
the  right  to  be  voted  for,  even  though  they  belong  to  one  of  the 
categories  enumerated  above,  namely: 

(a)  Persons  who  employ  hired  labor  in  order  to  obtain  from  it 
an  increase  in  profits. 

(b)  Persons  who  have  an  income  without  doing  any  work,  such 
as  interest  from  capital,  receipts  from  property,  etc. 

14 


(c)  Private  merchants,  trade  and  commercial  brokers. 

(d)  Monks  and  clergy  of  all  denominations. 

(e)  Employees  and  agents  of  the  former  police,  the  gendarme 
corps,  and  the  Okhrana  [Czar's  secret  service],  also  members 
of  the  former  reigning  dynasty. 

(f )  Persons  who  have  in  legal  form  been  declared  demented  or 
mentally  deficient,  and  also  persons  under  guardianship. 

(g)  Persons  who  have  been  deprived  by  a  Soviet  of  their  rights 
of  citizenship  because  of  selfish  or  dishonorable  offences,  for 
the  period  fixed  by  the  sentence. 

Chapter  Fourteen 
Elections 

66.  Elections  are  conducted  according  to  custom  on  days  fixed 
by  the  local  Soviets. 

67.  Election  takes  place  in  the  presence  of  an  election  com- 
mittee and  the  representative  of  the  local  Soviet. 

68.  In  case  the  representative  of  the  Soviet  cannot  for  valid 
causes  be  present,  the  chairman  of  the  election  committee  takes 
his  place,  and  in  case  the  latter  is  absent,  the  chairman  of  the 
election  meeting  replaces  him. 

69.  Minutes  of  the  proceedings  and  results  of  elections  are  to 
be  compiled  and  signed  by  the  members  of  the  election  com- 
mittee and  the  representative  of  the  Soviet. 

70.  Detailed  instructions  regarding  the  election  proceedings 
and  the  participation  in  them  of  professional  and  other  workers' 
organizations  are  to  be  issued  by  the  local  Soviets,  according  to 
the  instructions  of  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee. 

Chapter  Fifteen 

The  checking  and  cancellation  of  elections  and  recall  of  the 

deputies 

71.  The  respective  Soviets  receive  all  the  records  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  election. 

72.  The  Soviet  appoints  a  commission  to  verify  the  election. 

73.  This  commission  reports  the  results  to  the  Soviet. 

74.  The  Soviet  decides  the  question  when  there  is  doubt  as  to 
which  candidate  is  elected. 

75.  The  Soviet  announces  a  new  election  if  the  election  of  one 
candidate  or  another  cannot  be  determined. 

76.  If  an  election  was  irregularly  carried  on  in  its  entirety, 
it  may  be  declared  void  by  a  higher  Soviet  authority. 

77.  The  highest  authority  in  relation  to  questions  of  elections 
is  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee. 

15 


78.  Voters  who  have  sent  a  deputy  to  the  Soviet  have  the  right 
to  recall  him,  and  to  have  a  new  election,  according  to  general 
provisions. 

Article  Five 

THE  BUDGET 
Chapter  Sixteen 

79.  The  financial  policy  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal 
Soviet  Republic  in  the  present  transition  period  of  dictatorship 
of  the  proletariat  facilitates  the  fundamental  purpose  of  expro- 
priation of  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  preparation  of  conditions 
necessary  for  the  equality  of  all  citizens  of  Russia  in  the  pro- 
duction and  distribution  of  wealth.  To  this  end-  it  sets  forth  as 
its  task  the  supplying  of  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power  with  all 
necessary  funds  for  local  and  state  needs  of  the  Soviet  Republic, 
without  regard  to  private  property  rights. 

80.  The  state  expenditure  and  income  of  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federal  Soviet  Republic  are  combined  in  the  state  budget. 

81.  The  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  or  the  All-Russian 
Central  Executive  Committee  determine  what  matters  of  income 
and  taxation  shall  go  to  the  state  budget  and  what  shall  go  to 
the  local  Soviets;  they  also  set  the  limits  of  taxes. 

82.  The  Soviets  levy  taxes  only  for  the  local  needs.  The  state 
needs  are  covered  by  the  funds  of  the  state  treasury. 

83.  No  expenditure  out  of  the  state  treasury  not  set  forth  in 
the  budget  of  income  and  expense  shall  be  made  without  a 
special  order  of  the  central  power. 

84.  The  local  Soviets  shall  receive  credits  from  the  proper 
People's  Commissars  out  of  the  state  treasury,  for  the  purpose 
of  making  expenditures  for  general  state  needs. 

85.  All  credits  allotted  to  the  Soviets  from  the  state  treasury, 
and  also  credits  approved  for  local  needs,  must  be  expended 
according  to  the  estimates,  and  cannot  be  used  for  any  other 
purposes  without  a  special  order  of  the  All-Russian  Central  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  and  the  Soviet  of  People's  Commissars. 

86.  Local  Soviets  draw  up  semi-annual  and  annual  estimates 
of  income  and  expenditure  for  local  needs.  The  estimates  of 
urban  and  rural  Soviets  participating  in  county  congresses,  and 
also  the  estimates  of  the  county  organs  of  the  Soviet  power,  are 
to  be  approved  by  provincial  and  regional  congresses  or  by  their 
executive  committees;  the  estimates  of  the  urban,  provincial, 

16 


and  regional  organs  of  the  Soviets  are  to  be  approved  by  the  All- 
Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  and  the  Council  of  Peo- 
ple's Commissars. 

87.  The  Soviets  may  ask  for  additional  credits  from  the  re- 
spective People's  Commissariats  for  expenditures  not  set  forth 
in  the  estimate,  or  where  the  allotted  sum  is  insufficient. 

88.  In  case  of  an  insufficiency  of  local  funds  for  local  needs, 
the  necessary  subsidy  may  be  obtained  from  the  state  treasury 
by  applying  to  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  or 
the  Council  of  People's  Commissars. 

Article  Six 

THE  COAT  OF  ARMS  AND  FLAG  OF  THE  RUSSIAN 

SOCIALIST   FEDERAL  SOVIET  REPUBLIC 

Chapter  Seventeen 

89.  The  coat  of  arms  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet 
Republic  consists  of  a  red  background  on  which  a  golden  scythe 
and  a  hammer  are  placed  (crosswise,  handles  downward)  in 
sun-rays  and  surrounded  by  a  wreath,  inscribed: 

Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic 
Workers  of  the  World,  Unite! 

90.  The  commercial,  naval,  and  army  flag  of  the  Russian  So- 
cialist Federal  Soviet  Republic  consists  of  a  red  cloth,  in  the 
left  corner  of  which  (on  top,  near  the  pole)  are  in  golden  char- 
acters the  letters  R.  S.  F.  S.  R.,  or  the  inscription:  Russian 
Socialist  Federal   Soviet  Republic. 

Chairman  of  the  fifth  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  and 

of  the  All-Russian  Central   Executive   Committee — 

J.  Sverdlov. 
Executive  Officers — All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee: 

T.  I.  Teodorovitch,  F.  A.  Rosin,  A.  P.  Rosenholz,  A.  C. 

Mitrofanov,  K.  G.  Maximov. 
Secretary  of  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee — 

V.  A.  Avanessov. 


17 


Laws  and  Decrees 

The  following  documents  are  taken  in  part  from  a  col- 
lection in  the  Library  of  Congress  at  Washington  and  in 
part  from  a  volume  of  laws,  regulations,  and  decrees  pub- 
lished by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Workers'  and 
Soldiers'  Deputies  of  the  province  of  Tomsk,  Russia.  The 
documents  selected  have  appeared  in  various  issues  of  the 
International  Relations  section  of  the  Nation. 

Land  Law 

THE  "Fundamental  Law  of  Socialization  of  the  Land" 
went   into   effect  in   September,  1918,   replacing  the 
earlier  and  briefer  Land  Decree  of  November  7,  1917. 

DIVISION  I. 

General  Provisions. 

Article  1.  All  property  rights  in  the  land,  treasures  of  the 
earth,  waters,  forests,  and  fundamental  natural  resources  with- 
in the  boundaries  of  the  Russian  Federated  Soviet  Republic  are 
abolished. 

Article  2.  The  land  passes  over  to  the  use  of  the  entire 
laboring  population  without  any  compensation,  open  or  secret, 
to  the  former  owners. 

Article  3.  The  right  to  use  the  land  belongs  to  those  who 
till  it  by  their  own  labor,  with  the  exception  of  special  cases 
covered  by  this  decree. 

Article  4.  The  right  to  use  the  land  cannot  be  limited  by 
sex,  religion,  nationality,  or  foreign  citizenship. 

Article  5.  The  sub-surface  deposits,  the  forests,  waters,  and 
fundamental  natural  resources  are  at  the  disposition  (according 
to  their  character)  of  the  county,  provincial,  regional,  and 
Federal  Soviet  powers  and  are  under  the  control  of  the  latter. 
The  method  of  disposition  and  utilization  of  the  sub-surface  de- 
posits, waters,  and  fundamental  natural  resources  will  be  dealt 
with  by  a  special  decree. 

18 


Article  6.  All  private  live  stock  and  inventoried  property 
of  non-laboring  homesteads  pass  over  without  indemnification  to 
the  disposition  (in  accordance  with  their  character)  of  the  land 
departments  of  the  county,  provincial,  regional,  and  Federal 
Soviets. 

Article  7.  All  homestead  structures  mentioned  in  Article 
6,  as  Well  as  all  agricultural  appurtenances,  pass  over  to  the 
disposition  (in  accordance  with  their  character)  of  the  county, 
provincial,  regional,  and  Federal  Soviets  without  indemnifi- 
cation. 

Article  8.  All  persons  who  are  unable  to  work  and  who  will 
be  deprived  of  all  means  of  subsistence  by  force  of  the  decree 
socializing  all  lands,  forests,  inventoried  property,  etc.,  may 
receive  a  pension  (for  a  lifetime  or  until  the  person  becomes  of 
age),  upon  the  certification  of  the  local  courts  and  the  land 
departments  of  the  Soviet  power,  such  as  a  soldier  receives, 
until  such  time  as  the  decree  for  the  insurance  of  the  incapaci- 
tated is  issued. 

Article  9.  The  apportionment  of  lands  of  agricultural  value 
among  the  laboring  people  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Volostnoi  [several  villages],  county,  provincial,  regional,  and 
Federal  land  departments  of  the  Soviets  in  accordance  with  their 
character. 

Article  10.  The  surplus  lands  are  under  the  supervision,  in 
every  republic,  of  the  land  departments  of  the  regional  and  Fed- 
eral Soviets. 

Article  11.  The  land  departments  of  the  local  and  central 
Soviets  are  thus  entrusted  with  the  equitable  apportionment  of 
the  land  among  the  working  agricultural  population,  and  with 
the  productive  utilization  of  the  natural  resources.  They  also 
have  the  following  duties: 

(a)  Creating  favorable  conditions  for  the  development  of  the 
productive  forces  of  the  country  by  increasing  the  fertility  of 
the  land,  improving  agricultural  technique,  and,  finally,  raising 
the  standard  of  agricultural  knowledge  among  the  laboring 
population. 

(b)  Creating  a  surplus  fund  of  lands  of  agricultural  value. 

(c)  Developing  various  branches  of  agricultural  industry, 
such  as  gardening,  cattle-breeding,  dairying,  etc. 

(d)  Accelerating  the  transition  from  the  old  unproductive 
system  of  field  cultivation  to  the  new  productive  one  (under 
various  climates),  by  a  proper  distribution  of  the  laboring  popu- 
lation in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

19 


(e)  Developing  collective  homesteads  in  agriculture  (in  pref- 
erence to  individual  homesteads)  as  the  most  profitable  system 
of  saving  labor  and  material,  with  a  view  to  passing  on  to 
socialism. 

Article  12.  The  apportionment  of  land  among  the  laboring 
population  is  to  be  carried  on  on  the  basis  of  each  one's  ability 
to  till  it  and  in  accordance  with  local  conditions,  so  that  the 
production  and  consumption  standard  may  not  compel  some 
peasants  to  work  beyond  their  strength;  and  at  the  same  time 
it  should  give  them  sufficient  means  of  subsistence. 

Article  13.  Personal  labor  is  the  general  and  fundamental 
source  of  the  right  to  use  the  land  for  agricultural  purposes. 
In  addition,  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power,  with  a  view  to 
raising  the  agricultural  standard  (by  organizing  model  farms 
or  experimental  fields),  are  permitted  to  borrow  from  the  sur- 
plus land  fund  (formerly  belonging  to  the  Crown,  monasteries, 
clergy,  or  landowners)  certain  plots  and  to  work  them  by  labor 
paid  by  the  state.  Such  labor  is  subject  to  the  general  rules  of 
workmen's  control. 

Article  14.  All  citizens  engaged  in  agricultural  work  are  to 
be  insured  at  the  expense  of  the  state  against  old  age,  sickness, 
or  injuries  which  incapacitate  them. 

Article  15.  All  incapacitated  agriculturists  and  the  mem- 
bers of  their  families  who  are  unable  to  work  are  to  be  cared 
for  by  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power. 

Article  16.  Every  agricultural  homestead  is  to  be  insured 
against  fire,  epidemics  among  cattle,  poor  crops,  dry  weather, 
hail,  etc.,  by  means  of  mutual  Soviet  insurance. 

Article  17.  Surplus  profits,  obtained  on  account  of  the 
natural  fertility  of  the  land  or  on  account  of  its  location  near 
markets,  are  to  be  turned  over  for  the  benefit  of  social  needs 
to  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power. 

Article  18.  The  trade  in  agricultural  machinery  and  in  seeds 
is  monopolized  by  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power. 

Article  19.  The  grain  trade,  internal  as  well  as  export,  is 
to  be  a  state  monopoly. 

DIVISION  II. 

Who  Has  the  Right  to  Use  the  Land. 

Article  20.  Plots  of  land  may  be  used  in  the  Russian  Fed- 
erated Soviet  Republic  for  the  following  social  and  private 
needs : 

A.  Cultural  and  educational: 

20 


1.  The  state,  in  the  form  of  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power 
(Federal,  regional,  provincial,  county,  and  rural). 

2.  Social  organizations  (under  the  control  and  by  permis- 
sion of  the  local  Soviets). 

B.  For  agricultural  purposes: 

3.  Agricultural  communities. 

4.  Agricultural  associations. 

5.  Village  organizations. 

6.  Individuals  and  families. 

C.  For  construction  purposes: 

7.  By  the  organs  of  the  Soviet  power. 

8.  By  social  organizations,  individuals,  and  families  (if 
the  construction  is  not  a  means  of  obtaining  profits). 

9.  By  industrial,  commercial,  and  transportation  enter- 
prises (by  special  permission  and  under  the  control  of  the 
Soviet  power). 

D.  For  constructing  ways  of  communication: 

10.  By  organs  of  the  Soviet  power  (Federal,  regional, 
provincial,  county,  and  rural,  according  to  the  importance 
of  the  ways  of  communication). 

DIVISION  III. 

The  order  in  which  land  is  apportioned. 

Article  21.  Land  is  given  to  those  who  wish  to  work  it  them- 
selves for  the  benefit  of  the  community  and  not  for  personal 
advantage. 

Article  22.  The  following  is  the  order  in  which  land  is  given 
for  personal  agricultural  needs: 

1.  To  local  agriculturists  who  have  no  land  or  a  small 
amount  of  land,  and  to  local  agricultural  workers  (for- 
merly hired),  on  an  equal  basis. 

2.  Agricultural  emigrants  who  have  come  to  a  given  lo- 
cality after  the  issuance  of  the  decree  of  socialization  of 
the  land. 

3.  Non-agricultural  elements  in  the  order  of  their  regis- 
tration at  the  land  departments  of  the  local  Soviets. 

Note:  When  arranging  the  order  of  the  apportionment  of 
land,  preference  is  given  to  laboring  agricultural  associations 
over  individual  homesteads. 

Article  23.  For  the  purpose  of  gardening,  fishing,  cattle- 
breeding,  or  forestry,  land  is  given  on  the  following  basis: 

(1)  land  which  cannot  be  tilled;  (2)  land  which  can  be  tilled, 
but  which  on  account  of  its  location  is  preferably  to  be  used  for 
other  agricultural  purposes. 

21 


Article  24.  In  rural  districts,  land  is  used  for  construction 
purposes  in  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  local  Soviets 
and  the  population. 

In  cities,  land  may  be  obtained  in  the  order  in  which  applica- 
tions are  filed  with  the  respective  local  Soviets,  if  the  construc- 
tion planned  does  not  threaten  to  harm  the  neighboring  build- 
ings and  if  it  answers  all  other  requirements  of  the  building 
regulations. 

Note:  For  the  purpose  of  erecting  social  buildings,  land  is 
given  regardless  of  the  order  in  which  applications  are  filed. 

DIVISION  IV. 

The  standard  of  agricultural  production  and  consumption. 

Article  25.  The  amount  of  land  given  to  individual  home- 
steads for  agricultural  purposes,  with  a  view  to  obtaining  means 
of  subsistence,  must  not  exceed  the  standard  of  agricultural  pro- 
duction and  consumption  as  determined  on  the  basis  indicated  in 
the  instruction  following. 

Instruction  for  determining    the   production  and   consumption 
standard  for  the  use  of  land  of  agricultural  value. 

1.  The  whole  of  agricultural  Russia  is  divided  into  as  many 
climatic  sections  as  there  are  field  cultivation  systems  histori- 
cally in  existence  at  the  given  agricultural  period. 

2.  For  every  agricultural  section  a  special  production  and  con- 
sumption standard  is  set.  Within  the  section  the  standard  may 
be  changed  in  accordance  with  the  climate  and  the  natural  fer- 
tility of  the  land,  also  in  accordance  with  its  location  (near  a 
market  or  railway)  and  other  conditions  which  are  of  great  local 
importance. 

3.  For  an  exact  determination  of  the  standard  of  each  section, 
it  is  necessary  to  take  an  all-Russian  agricultural  census  in  the 
near  future. 

Note:  After  the  socialization  of  the  land  has  been  accom- 
plished, it  is  necessary  to  survey  it  immediately  and  to  determine 
its  topography. 

4.  The  apportionment  of  land  on  the  production  and  consump- 
tion basis  among  the  agricultural  population  is  to  be  carried  on 
gradually  in  various  agricultural  sections,  according  to  regula- 
tions stated  herein. 

Note:  Until  the  socialization  of  land  is  entirely  accomplished, 
the  relations  of  agriculturists  will  be  regulated  by  the  land 
departments  of  the  Soviets  in  accordance  with  a  special  in- 
struction. 

5.  For  the  determination  of  the  production  and  consumption 


standard  of  a  given  climatic  section,  it  is  necessary  to  take  the 
standard  (an  average  agricultural  homestead)  of  one  of  the 
counties  of  that  section  (or  another  agricultural  standard  of 
equal  size)  with  a  small  population,  and  with  such  a  proportion 
of  various  agricultural  advantages  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
local  inhabitants  (regional  or  provincial  congress  of  the  land 
departments  of,  the  Soviets),  will  be  recognized  as  the  most  nor- 
mal, i.  e.,  the  most  favorable  for  the  type  of  field  cultivation 
which  predominates  in  that  climatic  section. 

6.  For  the  determination  of  what  an  average  agricultural 
homestead  is,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  consideration  only  those 
lands  which  were  actually  in  the  possession  of  working  peasants 
down  to  1917,  i.  e.,  lands  bought  by  peasant  organizations,  asso- 
ciations, individuals,  and  entailed  and  rented  lands. 

7.  Forests,  sub-surface  deposits,  and  waters  are  not  to  be  con- 
sidered in  this  determination. 

8.  Private  lands  which  were  never  used  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, and  which  were  actually  in  the  possession  of  the  state, 
private  banks,  monasteries,  or  land  owners,  will  not  be  taken 
into  consideration  in  this  determination,  as  they  will  constitute 
the  surplus  land  fund  which  will  serve  to  supply  the  landless 
peasants  and  those  who  have  less  land  than  the  peasants'  produc- 
tion and  consumption  standard  calls  for. 

9.  For  determining  the  entire  amount  of  land  which  was  in 
actual  possession  of  the  working  peasants  down  to  the  revolu- 
tion of  1917,  it  is  necessary  to  determine  its  quantity  according 
to  its  special  character  (field,  pasture,  meadow,  drainage,  gar- 
dens, orchards,  estates). 

10.  This  determination  must  be  made  in  exact  figures,  as  well 
as  in  the  proportion  of  the  entire  quantity  to  each  individual 
homestead,  settlement,  village,-  county,  province,  or  region,  or 
the  entire  climatic  section  of  the  given  system  of  field  cultivation. 

11.  When  thus  determining  the  entire  quantity  of  land,  it  is 
necessary  to  determine  the  quality  of  each  acre  of  a  typical  field 
or  meadow  by  ascertaining  the  amount  (in  poods)  of  grain  or 
hay  yielded  by  an  acre  of  land  of  the  given  section  for  the  past 
ten  years. 

12.  When  determining  the  quantity  and  quality  of  land,  it  is 
necessary  to  determine  at  the  same  time  the  entire  population 
of  the  given  climatic  section  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  also 
that  part  of  the  population  which  subsists  at  the  expense  of 
agriculture. 

13.  The   census   of  the   inhabitants  engaged   in  agricultural 

23 


work  is  to  be  taken  by  sex,  age,  and  family  for  each  homestead 
separately,  and  later  the  information  obtained  is  to  be  classi- 
fied by  villages,  counties,  and  provinces  of  the  given  section. 

14.  When  taking  the  census  of  the  population  it  is  necessary 
to  determine  the  number  of  workingmen  and  members  depend- 
ent upon  them,  and  for  that  purpose  the  entire  population  is 
divided  into  the  following  classes  according  to  ages: 

Those  unable  to  work. 

Girls to  12  years  of  age. 

Boys to  12  years  of  age. 

Men from  60  years  of  age. 

Women from  50  years  of  age. 

Those  incapacitated  by  physical  or  mental  illness  are  recorded 
separately. 

[Those  able  to  work.] 

Men         from  18  to  60 — 1.0  unit  of  working  strength 

Women    from  18  to  50—0.8     " 

Boys         from  12  to  16—0.5     " 

Girls         from  12  to  16—0.5     " 

Boys         from  16  to  18—0.75  " 

Girls        from  16  to  18—0.6     " 
Note:     These   figures  may  be  changed   in  accordance  with 
climatic  and  customary  conditions  by  decision  of  the  appropriate 
organs  of  the  Soviet  power. 

15.  By  dividing  the  number  of  acres  by  the  number  of  work- 
ing units,  the  number  of  acres  to  each  unit  may  be  obtained. 

16.  The  number  of  incapacitated  members  to  each  working 
unit  may  be  obtained  by  dividing  the  entire  incapacitated  ele- 
ment by  the  total  of  working  units. 

17.  It  is  also  necessary  to  describe  and  figure  out  the  number 
of  work  animals  and  cattle  that  can  be  fed  on  one  acre  of  land 
and  with  one  working  unit. 

18.  For  determining  what  an  average  landowning  peasant  is 
in  a  county,  it  is  necessary  to  ascertain  the  average  acre  in 
quality  and  fertility.  This  average  is  the  sum  of  crops  from 
various  soils  divided  by  the  number  of  the  soil  categories  [Para- 
graph 9?] 

19.  The  average  obtained  as  above  is  to  serve  as  a  basis  for 
determining  the  production  and  consumption  standard  by  which 
all  the  homesteads  will  be  equalized  from  the  surplus  land  fund. 

Note:  In  case  the  average,  as  indicated  above,  obtained  after 
preliminary  calculations,  proves  insufficient  for  existence   (see 

24 


Division  1,  Article  12),  it  may  be  increased  from  the  surplus 
land  fund. 

20.  For  determining  the  amount  of  land  needed  for  addi- 
tional distribution  among  peasants,  it  is  necessary  to  multiply 
the  number  of  acres  of  land  to  each  working  unit  in  a  county 
by  the  sum  of  agricultural  working  units  of  the  given  climatic 
section,  and  to  subtract  from  the  product  the  amount  of  land 
which  the  working  population  have  on  hand. 

21.  Further,  upon  ascertaining  the  number  of  acres  of  land 
(in  figures  and  percentage  according  to  character)  which  the 
surplus  land  fund  has,  and  comparing  this  figure  with  the  quan- 
tity of  land  necessary  for  additional  distribution  among  peasants 
who  have  not  sufficient  land,  the  following  is  to  be  determined: 
is  it  possible  to  confine  the  emigration  within  the  boundaries  of 
the  given  climatic  section?  If  so,  it  is  necessary  to  determine 
the  size  of  the  surplus  land  fund  and  its  capacity.  If  it  is  not 
possible  to  confine  it  within  the  given  climatic  section,  ascertain 
how  many  families  will  have  to  emigrate  to  another  section. 

Note:  The  main  land  departments  of  the  Soviet  power  must 
be  informed  of  the  quantity  of  surplus  land,  as  well  as  of  a  lack 
of  the  same;  and  the  location,  amount,  and  kind  of  unoccupied 
lands  must  be  indicated. 

22.  When  additional  distribution  takes  place,  it  is  necessary  to 
know  the  exact  amount  and  quality  of  land  which  the  peasants 
have,  the  number  of  cattle  on  hand,  the  number  of  members  of 
the  families,  etc. 

23.  When  additional  distribution  takes  place  in  accordance 
with  the  production  and  consumption  standard,  this  standard 
must  be  raised  in  the  following  cases: 

(1)  When  the  working  strength  of  a  family  is  overtaxed  by 
the  number  of  incapacitated  members;  (2)  when  the  land  which 
the  family  has  on  hand  is  not  sufficiently  fertile;  (3)  in  accord- 
ance with  the  quality  of  such  land  of  the  surplus  fund  as  is 
given  to  the  peasant  (the  same  applies  to  meadows). 

25.  When  an  additional  apportionment  of  land  takes  place 
and  the  given  district  lacks  certain  advantages,  the  peasant  gets 
a  certain  amount  of  land  possessing  other  advantages. 

DIVISION  V. 
Standard  for  the  Utilization  of  Land  for  Construction,  Agri- 
cultural, and  Educational  Purposes,  etc. 

Article  26.  When  land  is  apportioned  for  educational  and  in- 
dustrial  purposes  and   also  for  the  erection  of  dwellings,  for 

25 


cattle  breeding,  and  other  agricultural  needs  (with  the  exception 
of  field  cultivation),  the  quantity  of  land  to  be  apportioned 
shall  be  determined  by  the  local  Soviets  in  accordance  with  the 
needs  of  the  individuals  or  organizations  which  ask  permission 
to  use  the  land. 

DIVISION  VI. 
Emigration. 

Article  27.  In  case  the  surplus  land  fund  in  the  given  sec- 
tion proves  to  be  insufficient  for  additional  distribution  among 
peasants,  the  surplus  of  the  population  may  be  transferred  to 
another  section  where  there  is  sufficient  surplus  land. 

Article  28.  Transfer  from  one  section  to  another  is  to  take 
place  only  after  the  peasants  of  the  latter  section  are  all  dis- 
tributed. 

Article  29.  The  emigration  from  one  section  to  another,  as 
well  as  the  distribution  of  the  inhabitants  within  the  section, 
must  be  carried  on  as  follows:  at  first  those  who  are  furthest 
away  from  the  surplus  fund  are  to  emigrate,  so  that 

(a)  the  land  of  the  surplus  fund  is  used  first  of  all  by  the 
peasants  of  that  village  or  hamlet  in  the  vicinity  of  which  the 
surplus  land  fund  lies. 

Note:  If  there  are  several  such  villages,  preference  is  given 
to  those  that  tilled  the  land  before. 

(b)  the  second  place  is  given  to  the  peasants  of  the  Volost 
within  the  boundaries  of  which  the  surplus  land  lies. 

(c)  the  third  place  is  given  to  the  peasants  of  the  county 
within  the  boundaries  of  which  the  surplus  land  lies. 

(d)  finally,  if  the  given  system  of  field  cultivation  covers 
several  provinces,  the  peasants  of  the  province  within  the  boun- 
daries of  which  the  surplus  land  lies  receive  additional  land. 

Article  30.  The  emigration  accordingly  runs  in  the  following 
order:  (a)  volunteers  are  the  first  to  emigrate;  (b)  second, 
those  organizations  which  suffer  most  from  lack  of  land;  (c) 
agricultural  associations,  communities,  large  families,  and  small 
families  which  have  small  amounts  of  land. 

Article  31.  The  apportionment  of  land  among  agriculturists 
who  have  to  emigrate  is  to  be  carried  on  as  follows :  in  the  first 
place,  small  families  suffering  from  lack  of  land;  second,  large 
families  suffering  from  lack  of  land ;  third,  other  families  suffer- 
ing from  lack  of  land;  fourth,  agricultural  associations;  and, 
finally,  communities. 

Article  32.    The  transfer  of  peasants  from  one  section  to 

26 


another  is  to  be  done  with  consideration,  so  that  the  new  place 
shall  give  the  peasant  a  chance  to  cultivate  land  successfully 
and  the  climatic  conditions  shall  be  analogous  to  those  of  his 
previous  domicile.  In  that  case  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  customs  and  nationality  of  the  emigrants. 

Article  33.  The  cost  of  transferring  peasants  to  new  places 
is  to  be  provided  by  the  state. 

Article  34.  In  connection  with  the  transfer,  the  state  is  to 
help  the  peasants  in  the  building  of  homes,  roads,  drains,  and 
wells,  in  obtaining  agricultural  machinery  and  artificial  ferti- 
lizers, by  creating  artificial  water  systems  (when  necessary), 
and  by  erecting  educational  centres. 

Note:  For  the  purpose  of  expediting  the  establishment  of 
agricultural  work  on  a  socialistic  basis,  the  state  offers  to  ex- 
tend to  the  emigrants  every  aid  necessary  for  a  systematic  and 
scientific  management  of  collective  homesteads. 

DIVISION  VII. 

Form  of  Utilization  of  Land. 

Article  35.  The  Russian  Federated  Soviet  Republic,  for  the 
purpose  of  attaining  socialism,  offers  to  extend  aid  (cultural 
and  material)  to  the  general  tilling  of  land,  giving  preference 
to  the  communistic  and  cooperative  homesteads  over  individual 
ones. 

Article  36.  Lands  of  cooperative  and  individual  homesteads 
must,  if  possible,  be  in  the  same  location. 

DIVISION  VIII. 

Obtaining  Rights  to  the  Use  of  Land. 
Article  37.     Land  may  be  obtained: 

(a)  For  educational  purposes. 
1.  Social  usefulness. 

(b)  For  agricultural  purposes. 
1.  Personal  labor. 

(c)  For  building  purposes. 

1.  Social  buildings. 

2.  Dwellings. 

3.  The  necessity  of  conducting  a  working  homestead. 

(d)  For  the  purpose  of  constructing  ways  of  communication. 
1.  Public  necessity. 

27 


DIVISION  IX. 

The  Order  in  Which  the  Right  to  Use  the  Land  May  be  Obtained. 

Article  38.  An  application  must  be  filed  with  the  land  de- 
partment of  the  Soviet  power  in  whose  jurisdiction  the  desired 
land  lies. 

Article  39.  The  application  shows  the  order  in  which  the  per- 
mission to  use  the  land  is  granted.  The  permission  is  granted 
on  the  basis  of  the  general  provisions  of  this  decree. 

Note:  The  application  should  contain  the  following  informa- 
tion, in  addition  to  the  full  name  and  address  of  the  person  who 
desires  to  use  the  land :  former  occupation,  the  purpose  for  which 
land  is  desired,  the  inventory  on  hand,  the  location  of  the  de- 
sired plot  and  its  size. 

Note:  If  the  land  department  of  the  Volostnoi  Soviet  refuses 
to  grant  the  permission  to  use  land,  the  question  may  be  brought 
(within  one  week)  to  the  notice  of  the  land  department  of  the 
county  Soviet;  if  the  county  Soviet  refuses,  it  may  be  presented 
to  the  land  department  of  the  provincial  Soviet  within  two 
weeks. 

Note:  The  right  to  use  land  (sub-surface  deposits,  waters, 
forests,  and  fundamental  natural  resources)  cannot  be  obtained 
under  any  circumstances  through  purchase,  rental,  inheritance, 
or  any  other  private  transaction. 

DIVISION  X. 

Article  40.  The  right  to  use  the  land  becomes  effective  in 
the  following  order. 

Article  41.  The  right  to  use  land  for  construction  purposes 
becomes  effective  upon  actual  occupation  of  the  plot  or  upon 
preparations  for  its  occupation,  but  not  later  than  three  months 
after  the  receipt  of  permission  from  the  local  Soviet. 

Note:  By  actual  preparations  is  meant  the  delivery  of  build- 
ing materials  to  the  place  of  destination  or  the  closing  of  a 
contract  with  workers. 

Article  42.  The  right  to  use  land  for  agricultural  purposes 
(on  the  basis  of  personal  labor)  becomes  effective  upon  begin- 
ning the  work  at  the  opening  of  the  next  agricultural  season. 

Article  43.  The  right  to  use  the  land  for  field  cultivation 
becomes  effective  upon  the  actual  beginning  of  field  work  (with- 
out hired  help)  at  the  opening  of  the  agricultural  season  next 
after  the  receipt  of  a  permit  from  the  local  Soviet. 

Note:  Buildings  may  be  erected  on  plots  of  land  that  may  be 
tilled  only  by  special  permission  of  the  land  department  of  the 
Soviet  Government. 

Article  44.  In  case  of  actual  inability  to  use  the  plot  in  the 
period  of  time  allowed  by  the  land  department,  the  latter  may 

28 


extend  this  period  if  there  is  valid  cause,  i.  e.,  the  illness  of  the 
working  hands,  trouble  brought  about  by  epidemics,  etc. 

DIVISION  XI. 

Transfer  of  Right  to  Use  Given  Plots  of  Land. 

Article  45.   The  right  to  use  the  land  is  not  transferable. 

Article  46.  The  right  to  use  land  may  be  obtained  by  anyone 
on  the  basis  of  this  decree,  and  it  cannot  be  transferred  from 
one  person  to  another. 

DIVISION  XII. 

Temporary  Cancellation  of  the  Right  to  Use  the  Land. 

Article  47.  Any  land-borrower's  right  to  use  the  plot  of  land 
may  be  suspended  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  without  can- 
celling it  entirely. 

Article  48.  Any  land-borrower  may  cease  utilizing  the  land 
at  a  certain  time  and  still  have  the  right  to  it  (a)  if  natural 
calamities  (floods,  etc.)  deprive  him  of  the  possibility;  (b)  if 
the  agriculturist  is  temporarily  ill;  (c)  if  the  agriculturist  is 
called  to  do  some  government  duty;  or  for  other  cause  valid 
from  the  social  point  of  view.  He  may  hold  it  until  such  time 
as  conditions  are  favorable  for  the  utilization  of  his  plot. 

Note:  The  period  of  such  temporary  cessation  is  to  be  deter- 
mined in  each  case  by  the  land  department  of  the  local  Soviet. 

Article  49.  Upon  every  temporary  cessation  of  the  use  of 
the  land  (as  indicated  in  Article  48),  the  local  Soviet  either 
organizes  community  help  to  the  agriculturist  or  calls  upon  the 
workers,  paid  by  the  state  and  subject  to  the  general  regulations 
of  workers'  control,  to  do  the  work  of  the  afflicted  agriculturist 
(temporary  incapacity,  death,  etc.),  so  as  to  save  his  property 
and  proceed  with  production. 

DIVISION  XIII. 

•  Cessation  of  the  Right  to  Use  the  Land. 

Article  50.  The  right  to  use  the  land  may  cease  for  an  entire 
agricultural  unit,  or  for  individual  members  of  the  same. 

Article  51.  The  right  of  the  given  individual  to  use  the  land 
may  cease  for  the  whole  plot  or  for  a  part  of  it. 

Article  52.  The  right  is  cancelled  (a)  if  the  organization, 
or  the  purpose  for  which  it  had  taken  land,  is  declared  void; 
(b)  if  units,  associations,  communities,  etc.,  disintegrate;  (c)  if 
the  individual  finds  it  impossible  to  cultivate  the  field  or  do 
other  agricultural  work,  and  if  at  the  same  time  the  individual 

29 


has  other  means  of  subsistence  (for  instance,  a  pension  paid  to 
the  incapacitated) ;  (d)  upon  the  death  of  the  individual,  or 
when  his  civil  rights  are  cancelled  by  the  court. 

Article  53.  The  right  to  use  a  plot  of  land  ceases  (a)  in  case 
of  a  formal  refusal  to  use  the  plot;  (b)  in  case  of  obvious  un- 
willingness to  use  the  plot,  although  no  formal  refusal  has  been 
filed;  (c)  in  case  the  land  is  used  for  illegal  purposes  (e.  g., 
throwing  garbage)  ;  (d)  in  case  the  land  is  exploited  by  illegal 
means  (e.  g.,  hiring  land  secretly)  ;  (e)  in  case  the  use  of  the 
land  by  a  given  individual  brings  injury  to  his  neighbor  (e.  g., 
manufacture  of  chemicals). 

Note:  The  land-borrower,  upon  cessation  of  his  right  to  the 
use  of  the  land,  has  the  right  to  demand  from  the  respective 
land  departments  of  the  Soviets  a  fee  for  the  unused  improve- 
ments and  labor  invested  in  the  land,  if  the  given  plot  did  not 
bring  him  sufficient  profit. 

Chairman    of   the   All-Russian    Central    Executive 
Committee : 

Sverdlov. 
Members  of  the  Executive  Body: 

Spiridonova,  Mouranov,  Zinoveiv,  Ou- 
stinov,  Kamkov,  Lander,  Skoulov, 
volodarsky,  peterson,  natanson-bo- 

BROV. 

Secretaries  of  the  Central  Executive  Committees: 

Avanessov,  Smoliansky. 
Chairman  of  the  Soviet  of  People's  Commissaries: 

V.    OULIANOV    (LENINE). 

People's  Commissar  of  Agriculture: 
A.  Koleguev. 


Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  the  Peoples 
of  Russia 

*~pHE  October  revolution  of  the  workmen  and  peasants  began 
*     under  the  common  banner  of  emancipation. 

The  peasants  are  being  emancipated  from  the  power  of  the 
landowners,  for  there  is  no  longer  the  landowner's  property 
right  in  the  land — it  has  been  abolished.  The  soldiers  and 
sailors  are  being  emancipated  from  the  power  of  autocratic 
generals,  for  generals  will  henceforth  be  elective  and  subject  to 

30 


recall.  The  workingmen  are  being  emancipated  from  the  whims 
and  arbitrary  will  of  the  capitalists,  for  henceforth  there  will 
be  established  the  control  of  the  workers  over  mills  and  fac- 
tories. Everything  living  and  capable  of  life  is  being  emanci- 
pated from  the  hateful  shackles. 

There  remain  only  the  peoples  of  Russia,  who  have  suffered 
and  are  suffering  oppression  and  arbitrariness,  and  whose  eman- 
cipation must  immediately  be  begun,  whose  liberation  must  be 
effected  resolutely  and  definitively. 

During  the  period  of  Czarism  the  peoples  of  Russia  were  sys- 
tematically incited  against  one  another.  The  results  of  such  a 
policy  are  known:  massacres  and  pogroms  on  the  one  hand, 
slavery  of  peoples  on  the  other. 

There  can  be  and  there  must  be  no  return  to  this  disgraceful 
policy  of  instigation.  Henceforth  the  policy  of  a  voluntary  and 
honest  union  of  the  peoples  of  Russia  must  be  substituted. 

In  the  period  of  imperialism,  after  the  February  revolution, 
when  the  power  was  transferred  to  the  hands  of  the  Cadet 
bourgeoisie,  the  naked  policy  of  instigation  gave  way  to  one  of 
cowardly  distrust  of  the  peoples  of  Russia,  to  a  policy  of  fault- 
finding and  provocation,  of  "freedom"  and  "equality"  of  peoples. 
The  results  of  such  a  policy  are  known:  the  growth  of  national 
enmity,  the  impairment  of  mutual  trust. 

And  end  must  be  put  to  this  unworthy  policy  of  falsehood  and 
distrust,  of  fault-finding  and  provocation.  Henceforth  it  must 
be  replaced  by  an  open  and  honest  policy  which  leads  to  complete 
mutual  trust  of  the  people  of  Russia.  Only  as  the  result  of 
such  a  trust  can  there  be  formed  an  honest  and  lasting  union 
of  the  peoples  of  Russia.  Only  as  the  result  of  such  a  union 
can  the  workmen  and  peasants  of  the  peoples  of  Russia  be 
cemented  into  one  revolutionary  force  able  to  resist  all  attempts 
on  the  part  of  the  imperialist-annexationist  bourgeoisie. 

Starting  with  these  assumptions,  the  first  Congress  of  Soviets, 
in  June  of  this  year,  proclaimed  the  right  of  the  peoples  of 
Russia  to  free  self-determination. 

The  second  Congress  of  Soviets,  in  October  of  this  year,  re- 
affirmed this  inalienable  right  of  the  peoples  of  Russia  more 
decisively  and  definitively. 

The  united  will  of  these  Congresses,  the  Council  of  the  Peo- 
ple's Commissaries,  resolved  to  base  their  action  regarding  the 
question  of  the  nationalities  of  Russia  upon  the  following  prin- 
ciples: 

31 


1.  The  equality  and  sovereignty  of  the  peoples  of  Russia. 

2.  The  right  of  the  peoples  of  Russia  to  free  self-determina- 
tion, even  to  the  point  of  separation  and  the  formation  of  an 
independent  state. 

3.  The  abolition  of  any  and  all  national  and  national-relig- 
ious privileges  and  disabilities. 

4.  The  free  development  of  national  minorities  and  ethno- 
graphic groups  inhabiting  the  territory  of  Russia. 

The  specific  decrees  which  are  to  follow  will  be  framed  immedi- 
ately upon  the  formation  of  a  commission  for  the  affairs  of 
nationalities. 

In  the  name  of  the  Russian  Republic,  People's  Com- 
misar  for  Affairs  of  Nationalities: 

Joseph  Djugashvili-Staline 
President  of  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissars : 
V.  Oulianov   (Lenin) 


Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  the  Laboring 
and  Exploited  People 

THE  form  of  the  following  declaration  is  explained  by 
the  fact  that  it  was  prepared  for  submission  to  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  which,  however,  broke  up  without  acting 
upon  it. 

THE   Central   Executive   Committee   proclaims  the  following 
basic  principles. 

I. 

The  Constituent  Assembly  resolves: 

1.  Russia  is  declared  to  be  a  Republic  of  Soviets  of  Work- 
men's, Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies.  All  the  power  in  the 
centre  and  in  the  provinces  belongs  to  these  Soviets. 

2.  The  Russian  Soviet  Republic  is  formed  on  the  basis  of  a 
free  union  of  free  nations,  as  a  federation  of  national  Soviet 
republics. 

II. 

Taking  as  its  fundamental  task  the  abolition  of  any  exploi- 
tation of  man  by  men,  the  complete  elimination  of  the  division  of 
society  into  classes,  the  ruthless  suppression  of  exploiters,  the 

32 


establishment  of  a  socialistic  organization  of-  society,  and  the 
victory  of  socialism  in  all  countries,  the  Constituent  Assembly 
resolves,  further: 

1.  To  effect  the  socialization  of  the  land,  private  ownership 
of  land  is  abolished,  and  the  whole  land  fund  is  declared  com- 
mon national  property  and  transferred  to  the  laborers  without 
compensation,  on  the  basis  of  equalized  use  of  the  soil. 

All  forests,  minerals,  and  waters  of  state-wide  importance,  as 
well  as  the  whole  inventory  of  animate  and  inanimate  objects, 
all  estates  and  agricultural  enterprises,  are  declared  national 
property. 

2.  The  Soviet  law  of  labor  control  and  the  Supreme  Board  of 
National  Economy  are  confirmed,  with  a  view  to  securing  the 
authority  of  the  toilers  over  the  exploiters,  as  the  first  step  to 
the  complete  transfer  of  all  factories,  mills,  mines,  railways,  and 
other  means  of  production  and  transportation  to  the  ownership 
of  the  Workmen's  and  Peasants'  Soviet  Republic. 

•  3.  The  transfer  of  all  banks  to  the  ownership  of  the  Work- 
ers' and  Peasants'  state  is  confirmed,  this  being  one  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  emancipation  of  the  laboring  masses  from  the 
yoke  of  capital. 

4.  With  a  view  to  the  destruction  of  the  parasitic  classes  of 
society  and  the  organization  of  the  national  economy,  universal 
labor  service  is  established. 

5.  In  the  interest  of  securing  all  the  power  for  the  laboring 
masses  and  the  elimination  of  any  possibility  of  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  power  of  the  exploiters,  the  arming  of  the  toilers, 
the  formation  of  a  socialistic  red  army  of  workmen  and  peas- 
ants, and  the  complete  disarmament  of  the  wealthy  classes  are 
decreed. 

III. 

1.  Expressing  its  inflexible  determination  to  wrest  humanity 
from  the  talons  of  financial  capital  and  imperialism,  which  have 
drenched  the  earth  with  blood  in  this  most  criminal  of  wars, 
the  Constituent  Assembly  subscribes  unanimously  to  the  policy 
of  abrogating  secret  treaties  which  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Soviet  Government,  the  organization  of  the  widest  fraterniza- 
tion with  the  workmen  and  peasants  of  the  armies  now  warring 
against  each  other,  and  the  securing,  at  any  cost  and  by  revo- 
lutionary measures,  of  a  democratic  peace  without  annexations 
and  indemnities,  on  the  basis  of  free  self-determination  of 
peoples.  x 

33 


2.  For  these  same  purposes  the  Constituent  Assembly  insists 
upon  a  complete  break  with  the  barbarous  policy  of  bourgeois 
civilization,  which  built  the  prosperity  of  the  exploiters  among 
the  few  chosen  nations  upon  the  enslavement  of  hundreds  of 
millions  of  the  laboring  population  in  Asia,  in  the  colonies  in 
general,  and  in  the  small  countries. 

The  Constituent  Assembly  welcomes  the  policy  of  the  Council 
of  the  People's  Commissaries  which  has  proclaimed  the  com- 
plete independence  of  Finland,  which  has  begun  the  removal  of 
the  troops  from  Persia,  and  which  has  declared  the  freedom  of 
self-determination  of  Armenia. 

The  Constituent  Assembly  views  the  Soviet  law  of  the  repu- 
diation of  the  loans  contracted  by  the  Government  of  the  Czar, 
the  landowners,  and  bourgeoisie,  as  the  first  blow  to  interna- 
tional banking,  finance,  and  capital,  and  expresses  its  confidence 
that  the  Soviet  authority  will  continue  to  pursue  that  course 
until  the  complete  victory  of  the  rising  of  international  labor 
against  the  yoke  of  capital  is  attained. 

IV. 

Having  been  elected  on  the  basis  of  party  lists  made  up  be- 
fore the  October  revolution,  when  the  people  could  not  yet  rise 
en  masse  against  the  exploiters  and  did  not  know  the  strength 
of  the  opposition  when  the  latter  defends  its  class  privileges, 
and  when  the  people  had  not  yet  practically  undertaken  the 
creation  of  a  socialistic  society,  the  Constituent  Assembly  would 
deem  it  radically  wrong,  even  from  a  formal  point  of  view,  to 
set  itself  in  opposition  to  the  Soviets. 

In  substance,  the  Constituent  Assembly  considers  that  now, 
at  the  moment  of  the  decisive  battle  of  the  people  with  their 
exploiters,  there  can  be  no  place  for  the  latter  in  any  of  the 
organs  of  government.  The  power  must  belong  wholly  and  ex- 
clusively to  the  toiling  masses  and  their  plenipotentiaries,  the 
Soviets  of  Workmen's  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Delegates. 

Supporting  the  Soviet  Government  and  the  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  the  People's  Commissaries,  the  Constituent  Assembly 
recognizes  that  its  tasks  are  completed  when  it  has  framed  a 
general  statement  of  the  fundamental  bases  of  a  socialistic  re- 
construction of  society. 

At  the  same  time,  aiming  at  the  creation  of  a  really  free  and 
voluntary  and,  consequently,  a  more  complete  and  lasting  union 
of  the  laboring  classes  of  all  the  nations  of  Russia,  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  confines   itself  to  the  establishment   of  the 

34 


fundamental  principles  of  federation  of  the  Soviet  Republic  of 
Russia,  leaving  it  to  the  workmen  and  peasants  of  each  nation 
to  decide  independently,  at  their  own  representative  Soviet  Con- 
gress, whether  they  wish  to  participate  in  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment and  in  the  other  Soviet  institutions,  and  on  what  basis.  .  .  . 


Abolition  of  Classes  and  Civil  Ranks 

1.  All  classes  and  class  divisions  of  citizens,  class  privileges 
and  disabilities,  class  organizations  and  institutions  which  have 
until  now  existed  in  Russia,  as  well  as  all  civil  ranks,  are 
abolished. 

2.  All  designations  (as  merchant,  nobleman,  burgher,  peas- 
ant, etc.),  titles  (as  Prince,  Count,  etc.),  and  distinctions  of 
civil  ranks  (Privy,  State,  and  other  Councillors),  are  abolished, 
and  one  common  designation  is  established  for  all  the  popula- 
tion of  Russia — citizen  of  the  Russian  Republic. 

3.  The  properties  of  the  noblemen's  class  institutions  are 
hereby  transferred  to  corresponding  Zemstvo  self-governing 
bodies. 

4.  The  properties  of  merchants'  and  burghers'  associations 
are  hereby  placed  at  the  disposal  of  corresponding  municipal 
bodies. 

5.  All  class  institutions,  transactions,  and  archives  are  here- 
by transferred  to  the  jurisdiction  of  corresponding  municipal 
and  Zemstvo  bodies. 

6.  All  corresponding  clauses  of  the  laws  which  have  existed 
until  now  are  abolished. 

7.  This  decree  becomes  effective  from  the  day  of  its  publi- 
cation, and  is  to  be  immediately  put  into  effect  by  the  local 
Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies. 

President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee: 

Ya.  Sverdlov 
President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars: 

Vl.  Oulianov  (Lenin) 
Director  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissars: 

Bonch-Bruyevich 
Secretary  to  the  Council: 

N.  Gorbounov 
November  10,  1917 

35 


Church  and  State 

1.  The  church  is  separated  from  the  stafce. 

2.  Within  the  limits  of  the  Republic,  it  is  prohibited  to  pass 
any  local  laws  or  regulations  which  would  restrict  or  limit  the 
freedom  of  conscience  or  establish  any  kind  of  privileges  or 
advantages  on  the  ground  of  the  religious  affiliations  of  citizens. 

3.  Every  citizen  may  profess  any  religion  or  none  at  all. 
Any  legal  disabilities  connected  with  the  profession  of  any  re- 
ligion or  none  are  abolished. 

Note:  From  all  official  acts  any  indication  of  the  religious 
affiliation  or  non-affiliation  of  citizens  is  to  be  omitted. 

4.  The  proceedings  of  state  and  other  public  legal  institu- 
tions are  not  to  be  accompanied  by  any  religious  customs  or 
ceremonies. 

5.  The  free  observance  of  religious  customs  is  guaranteed 
in  so  far  as  the  same  do  not  disturb  the  public  order  and  are 
not  accompanied  by  attempts  upon  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of 
the  Soviet  Republic.  The  local  authorities  have  the  right  to 
take  all  necessary  measures  for  the  preservation,  in  such  cases, 
of  public  order  and  security. 

6.  No  one  may  decline  to  perform  his  civil  duties,  giving  as 
a  reason  his  religious  views.  Exemptions  from  this  law,  con- 
ditioned upon  the  substitution  of  one  civil  duty  for  another,  are 
permitted  by  decision  of  the  people's  court  in  each  individual 
case. 

7.  Religious  or  judicial  oaths  are  abolished.  In  necessary 
cases  a  solemn  promise  only  is  given. 

8.  Acts  of  a  civil  nature  are  performed  exclusively  by  civil 
authorities,  such  as  the  departments  of  registration  of  mar- 
riages and  births. 

9.  The  school  is  separated  from  the  church.  The  teaching 
of  religious  doctrines  in  all  state  and  public,  as  well  as  in  pri- 
vate, educational  institutions  in  which  general  subjects  are 
taught,  is  forbidden.  Citizens  may  teach  and  study  religion 
privately. 

10.  All  church  and  religious  societies  are  subject  to  the  gen- 
eral regulations  governing  private  associations  and  unions,  and 
do  not  enjoy  any  privileges  or  subsidies  either  from  the  state 
or  from  its  local  autonomous  and  self-governing  institutions. 

11.  Compulsory  collection  of  payments  and  assessments  for 
the  benefit  of  church  or  religious  societies,  or  as  a  means  of 
compulsion  or  punishment  of  their  co-members  on  the  part  of 
these  societies,  is  not  allowed. 

36 


12.  No  church  or  religious  society  has  the  right  to  own 
property.     They  have  no  rights  of  a  juridical  person. 

13.  All  the  properties  of  the  existing  church  and  religious 
societies  in  Russia  are  declared  national  property.  Buildings 
and  articles  specially  designated  for  religious  services  are,  by 
special  decisions  of  the  local  or  central  state  authorities,  given 
for  the  free  use  of  corresponding  religious  societies. 

President  of  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissars: 

Oulianov  (Lenin) 
Commissars: 

Podvoisky,  Algassov,  Trutovsky,  Shlikhter, 
Proshian,       Menzhinsky,       Shliapnikov, 
Petrovsky 
Director  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Government: 

Bonch-Bruyevich 
Secretary  to  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissars: 

Gorbounov 


Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy 

1.  The  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  is  established 
under  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissaries. 

2.  The  task  of  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  is 
the  organization  of  the  national  economy  and  state  finances. 
For  that  purpose  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy 
elaborates  general  standards  and  a  plan  for  the  regulation  of 
the  economic  life  of  the  country,  coordinates  and  unifies  the 
activity  of  the  central  and  local  regulating  institutions  (fuel 
board,  metal  board,  transport  board,  central  supplies  committee, 
etc.,  and  the  respective  People's  Commissaries  of  commerce  and 
industry,  supplies,  agriculture,  finance,  war  and  navy,  etc.) 
of  the  All-Russian  Board  of  Workmen's  Control,  and  also  of  the 
corresponding  activities  of  factory  and  trade  organizations  of 
the  working  class. 

3.  The  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  is  given  the 
right  of  confiscation,  requisition,  sequestration,  and  compulsory 
syndication  of  various  branches  of  industry  and  commerce,  and 
other  measures  in  the  domain  of  production,  distribution,  and 
state  finance. 

4.  All  existing  institutions  for  the  regulation  of  the  national 
economy  are  subordinated  to  the  Supreme  Board  of  National 
Economy,  which  is  given  the  right  to  reform  them. 

5.  The  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  is  formed   (a)  * 

37 


of  the  All-Russian  Board  of  Workmen's  Control,  whose  per- 
sonnel is  determined  by  the  decree  of  November  14,  1917;  (b) 
of  representatives  of  all  the  People's  Commissaries;  (c)  of 
learned  persons,  who  are  invited  and  have  a  consulting  voice. 

6.  The  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  is  divided  into 
sections  and  departments  (as  fuel,  metal,  demobilization,  finance, 
etc.),  and  the  number  and  the  sphere  of  activity  of  these  sec- 
tions and  departments  are  determined  by  the  entire  Board. 

7.  The  departments  of  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Econ- 
omy conduct  the  work  of  regulating  the  separate  branches  of 
national  economic  life,  and  also  prepare  the  measures  of  the 
respective  People's  Commissaries. 

8.  The  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  forms  out  of 
its  membership  a  bureau  of  fifteen  persons,  for  the  coordination 
of  the  current  work  of  the  sections  and  departments  and  the  per- 
formance of  tasks  which  demand  immediate  attention. 

9.  All  projects  of  law  and  large  measures  which  have  refer- 
ence to  the  regulation  of  the  national  economy  in  its  entirety 
are  submitted  to  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissaries 
through  the  Supreme  Board  of  National   Economy. 

10.  The  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  unifies  and 
directs  the  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Depu- 
ties, which  include  the  local  organs  of  workmen's  control,  and 
also  the  local  commissaries  of  labor,  commerce  and  industry, 
supplies,  etc.  In  the  absence  of  corresponding  economic 
branches,  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  forms  local 
organs. 

All  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  are 
binding  upon  the  economic  departments  of  the  local  Soviets, 
which  constitute  the  local  organs  of  the  Supreme  Board  of 
National  Economy. 

President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee: 

Ya  Sverdlov 
President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars: 

Vl.  Oulianov  (Lenin) 
People's   Commissars: 

L.  Trotsky,  L.  Stashin,  N.  Avilov  (N. 
Glyebov) 
Director  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissars: 

Bonch-Bruyevich 
Secretary : 

N.  Gorbounov 

38 


Nationalization  of  Banks 

In  the  interest  of  the  regular  organization  of  the  national 
economy,  of  the  thorough  eradication  of  bank  speculation,  and 
the  complete  emancipation  of  the  workmen,  peasants,  and  the 
whole  laboring  population  from  the  exploitation  of  banking 
capital,  and  with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of  a  single  national 
bank  of  the  Russian  Republic  which  shall  serve  the  real  interests 
of  the  people  and  the  poorer  classes,  the  Central  Executive 
Committee  resolves: 

1.  The  banking  business  is  declared  a  state  monopoly. 

2.  All  existing  private  joint-stock  banks  and  banking  offices 
are  merged  in  the  state  bank. 

3.  The  assets  and  liabilities  of  the  liquidated  establishments 
are  taken  over  by  the  state  bank. 

4.  The  order  of  the  merger  of  private  banks  in  the  state 
bank  is  to  be  determined  by  a  special  decree. 

5.  The  temporary  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  pri- 
vate banks  is  entrusted  to  the  board  of  the  state  bank. 

6.  The  interests  of  the  small  depositors  will  be  safeguarded. 
December  Ik,  1917. 


Regional  and  Local  Boards  of  National 
Economy 

1.  For  the  purpose  of  the  organization  and  regulation  of  the 
entire  economic  life  of  every  industrial  region,  in  conformity 
with  general  state  and  local  interests,  under  the  regional  and 
local  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies, 
there  are  organized  regional  Boards  of  National  Economy,  as 
local  institutions  for  the  organization  and  the  regulation  of 
production,  directed  by  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy 
and  acting  under  the  general  control  of  the  respective  Soviet 
of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies. 

2.  The  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy  is  formed  (a) 
of  the  collegia  elected  at  the  joint  conferences  of  producers' 
trade  unions  and  factory  committees  (mining,  commercial,  in- 
dustrial, transport,  etc.),  and  also  at  conferences  of  land  com- 
mittees called  by  the  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peas- 
ants' Deputies;  (b)  of  representatives  of  Soviets  of  Workmen's, 
Soldiers',   and   Peasants'   Deputies   »nd   democratic   cooperative 

39 


societies;  (c)  of  representatives  of  the  technical,  administrative, 
and  commercial  management  of  enterprises  v'numbering  not 
more  than  one-third  of  the  entire  membership  of  the  board).  .  .  . 
Representatives  of  departments  participate  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy  and  have  a 
consulting  voice. 

3.  The  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy  is  divided  into 
sections,  according  to  the  branches  of  economic  life:  (1)  state 
economy  and  banks,  (2)  fuel,  (3)  metal  manufacture,  (4)  tex- 
tile manufacture,  (5)  cotton  manufacture,  (6)  wood,  (7)  min- 
eral substances,  (8)  animal  products,  (9)  food  products,  (10) 
chemical  products,  (11)  construction  works,  (12)  transport,  (13) 
agriculture,  (14)  supplies  and  consumption,  or  other  sections 
which  the  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy,  owing  to  local 
circumstances,  may  find  necessary. 

Each  section  which  takes  charge  of  any  branch  of  production 
is  divided  into  four  main  departments:  (1)  organization:  (a) 
management,  (b)  financing,  and  (c)  technical  organization  of 
enterprises;  (2)  supply  and  distribution;  (3)  labor;  (4)  sta- 
tistical. Similar  departments  of  the  sections,  by  meeting  joint- 
ly, form  conferences  (1)  on  organization,  (2)  on  supplies  and 
distribution,  (3)  on  labor  questions,  (4)  on  statistics.  They 
maintain  permanent  business  bureaus. 

The  Board  of  National  Economy  forms  also  other  inter-sec- 
tional conferences,   as  on  demobilization,  etc. 

4.  The  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy  elects  an  execu- 
tive committee  which  directs  all  the  activity  of  the  Board,  its 
departments,  sections,  and  bureaus. 

The  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy  elects  a  presidium 
which  constitutes  the  presidium  of  the  executive  committee  and 
of  the  separate  committees  of  the  Regional  Board  of  National 
Economy. 

5.  The  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy  has  jurisdiction 
over  the  following  matters: 

(a)  The  consideration  and  solution  of  questions  of  principle 
and  those  common  to  the  whole  region;  the  unification  and 
direction  of  the  activities  of  the  lower  organs  of  workmen's 
control  in  the  region,  the  regulation  of  their  mutual  relations, 
the  composition  and  elaboration  of  detailed  instructions  for  them 
regarding  various  questions  of  control. 

(b)  The  direction,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Supreme 
Board  of  National  Economy,  of  the  management  of  private  en- 
terprises which  have  become  the  property  of  the  Republic. 

40 


(c)  The  investigation  of  conflicts  not  settled  by  the  local 
organs. 

(d)  The  investigation  of  all  the  needs  of  the  region  as  to 
fuel,  raw  material,  means  of  production,  labor  force,  transpor- 
tation, facilities,  supplies,  and,  in  general,  articles  of  prime 
necessity. 

(e)  The  accounting  of  raw  material,  unfinished  products, 
goods,  labor  forces,  implements,  and  other  articles  of  production. 

(f)  The  taking  of  measures  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  wants 
and  economic  needs  of  the  population,  rural  economy,  etc. 

(g)  The  establishment  of  regulations  and  plans  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  general  state  supplies  in  the  region. 

(h)  The  formation  of  plans  for  the  distribution  of  orders 
among  the  enterprises. 

(i)   The  regulation  of  transport  in  the  region. 

(j)  The  establishment  of  strict  supervision  over  the  entire 
economic  life  of  the  region  with  regard  to  organization,  finances, 
etc. 

(k)  The  taking  of  measures  for  the  most  complete  utiliza- 
tion of  the  productive  forces  of  the  region,  in  the  industries  as 
well  as  in  rural  economy. 

(1)  The  establishment  of  bases  of  distribution  of  the  labor 
forces,  materials,  fuel,  means  of  production,  goods,  supplies,  etc. 

(m)  The  taking  of  measures  for  the  improvement  of  the  sani- 
tary and  hygienic  conditions  of  labor. 

6.  All  regulating  institutions  of  local  significance  come  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  respective  Regional  Boards  of  National 
Economy,  and  all  employees,  together  with  the  technical  and 
administrative  apparatus,  are  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Regional  Board  of  National  Economy. 

7.  All  decisions  of  the  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy 
have  a  compulsory  character,  and  must  be  carried  out  by  all 
local  institutions  and  also  by  the  directorates  of  enterprises. 

The  decisions  of  the  Regional  Board  of  National  Economy 
may  be  suspended  and  vacated  only  by  the  Supreme  Board  of 
National  Economy. 

8.  The  limits  of  the  economic  regions  are  fixed  by  a  congress 
of  Regional  Boards  of  National  Economy  and,  until  its  meeting, 
by  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy. 

9.  All  Regional  Boards  of  National  Economy  must,  immedi- 
ately upon  formation,  enter  into  business  connection  with  the 
Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy,  obeying  its  directions 
upon  questions  affecting  general  state  interests. 

41 


10.  The  formation  of  Boards  of  National  Economy  of  smaller 
regions  (provincial,  district,  etc.),  modelled  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  Regional  Boards  of  National  Economy,  is  left  to  the  in- 
itiative of  provincial  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peas- 
ants' Deputies.  The  establishment  of  the  sphere  of  their  activity 
and  their  general  direction  and  coordination  devolve  upon  the 
Regional  Board  of  National  Economy. 

Chairman  of  the  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy: 
V.  Obolensky 

(Passed  at  the  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Board  of  National 
Economy  on  December  23,  1917.) 


The  Provincial  Soviet  Organization 

HpHE  scheme  of  the  general  statutes  of  Soviets  of  Workmen's, 
-1  Soldiers',  Peasant,  and  Cossack  Deputies,  as  a  representa- 
tive organ,  is  no  less  necessary  for  the  obscure  places  in  our 
provinces  than  is  the  scheme  of  the  departments  and  sub-de- 
partments of  the  Soviets.  .  .  . 

The  statutes  of  the  Soviets  may  be  divided  into  sections,  as 
follows:  (1)  the  purpose  of  the  organization  of  Soviets;  (2) 
the  basis  of  representation;  (3)  sections  of  the  Soviet;  (4) 
elections  of  the  presidium  and  executive  committee  of  the  Soviet; 
(5)  the  functions  of  the  presidium;  (6)  the  executive  commit- 
tee and  its  functions;    (7)   general  sessions;    (8)   committees. 

1.  The  purpose  of  the  organization  of  the  Soviet. 

The  Soviet  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  Peasant,  and  Cossack 
Deputies  is  the  sovereign  state  organ  of  revolutionary  democ- 
racy, in  addition  to  the  organization  of  governmental  authority 
in  the  provinces.     The  Soviet  pursues  the  following  objects: 

(a)  The  organization  of  the  large  laboring  masses  of  work- 
men, peasants,  soldiers,  and  Cossacks; 

(b)  The  struggle  against  counter-revolutionary  currents  and 
the  strengthening  of  the  Soviet  Republic  and  all  liberties  gained 
by  the  October  revolution. 

2.  The  basis  and  order  of  representation  in  the  Soviets. 

(a)  A  Soviet  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  Peasant,  and  Cossack 
Deputies  is  constituted  of  one  or  two  representatives  each  of 
all  workmen's,  soldiers',  peasant,  and  Cossack  organizations 
(parties,  trade  unions,  committees,  etc.)  in  the  cities,  villages, 
and  settlements. 

(b)  The  peasants  elect  two  representatives  from  each  town- 

42 


ship  to  the  district  Soviet   (a  township  Soviet  has  one  or  two 
representatives  from  each  small  town,  village,  or  hamlet) . 

(c)  The  Cossacks  elect  two  representatives  (or  three)  from 
each  village  to  the  Regional  Soviet  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers', 
Peasant,  and  Cossack  Deputies,  and  one  representative  each 
from  a  forepost  [small  settlement],  hamlet,  or  small  town  to  the 
village  Soviet.  (In  Cossack  territories  the  peasant  representa- 
tion in  the  Regional  Soviet  is  proportional,  according  to  the 
villages). 

(d)  The  workmen  and  all  proletarian  laboring  masses  in  cities 
where  the  urban  proletariat  does  not  exceed  5,000  or  6,000  per- 
sons have  representation  on  the  following  basis:  (1)  Every 
enterprise  employing  100  persons  sends  one  representative.  (2) 
Enterprises  employing  from  100  to  200  persons  send  two  repre- 
sentatives; from  200  to  300  persons,  three  representatives,  etc. 
(3)  Enterprises  employing  less  than  fifty  persons  combine,  if 
possible,  with  other  small  kindred  enterprises  and  send  a  com- 
mon representative  to  the  Soviet.  Those  unable  to  combine  may 
send  their  representatives  independently. 

(e)  The  soldiers  of  a  local  garrison  (Cossacks,  sailors)  send 
to  the  Soviet  their  representatives  on  the  following  principle: 
each  company,  squadron,  command,  etc.,  elects  two  representa- 
tives to  the  Soviet;  clerks,  hospital  attendants,  horse  reserves, 
and  other  small  units  send  one  representative  each. 

Addenda  to  Paragraph  2.  (1)  Every  member  newly  elected  to 
the  Soviet  must  present  a  certificate  from  his  constituents,  which 
is  examined  by  the  credentials  committee;  (2)  if  a  member  of 
the  Soviet  deviates  from  the  instructions  of  his  constituents, 
then  the  constituents  have  the  right  to  recall  him  and  elect 
another  in  his  place;  (3)  each  section  (the  workmen's,  the  sol- 
diers', etc.)  of  the  Soviet  has  the  right  to  include  in  its  mem- 
bership experienced  and  necessary  workers  by  cooptation  up  to 
one-fifth  of  its  entire  membership.  Those  added  by  cooptation 
have  the  right  of  a  consulting  voice  at  general  sessions  of  the 
Soviet  in  the  committees  and  sections. 

3.  Sections  of  the  Soviet:  (a)  a  Soviet  has  four  sections — 
peasant,  workmen's,  soldiers',  and  Cossack;  (b)  each  section 
elects  from  its  membership  a  presidium  consisting  of  a  chair- 
man, two  vice-chairmen,  and  two  secretaries,  which  directs  all 
the  business  of  the  section;  (c)  the  representation  in  the  pre- 
sidium is  proportional  to  the  membership  of  this  or  that  party 
group. 

4.  Election  of  the  presidium  and  executive  committee:    (a) 

43 


the  members  of  the  Soviet,  in  each  section,  elect  a  presidium, 
which  is  chosen  at  a  general  meeting  by  a  universal,  direct, 
equal,  and  secret  vote,  in  the  proportion  and  number  indicated 
in  Paragraph  3  (Sections  of  the  Soviet)  ;  (b)  the  presidia  of  all 
sections  of  the  Soviet  constitute  the  general  presidium  of  the 
Soviet,  which  elects  from  its  membership  a  general  chairman 
of  all  sections,  two  vice-chairmen,  and  two  secretaries;  (c)  be- 
sides the  presidium,  the  general  assembly  of  the  Soviet  elects 
from  its  membership  an  executive  committee,  proportionate  to 
the  membership  of  each  party  group  (not  section),  so  arranged 
that  the  membership  of  the  executive  committee  shall  not  exceed 
one-fourth  of  the  entire  membership  of  the  Soviet;  (d)  the 
members  of  the  presidium  form  a  part  of  the  membership  of 
the  Executive  Committee  on  an  equal  basis  with  the  other  mem- 
bers. 

5.  The  functions  of  the  presidium:  (a)  the  presidium  is  the 
directing  organ  of  the  entire  Soviet  and  decides  independently 
all  matters  which  cannot  suffer  delay;  (b)  the  presidium  meets 
not  less  than  four  times  a  week;  (c)  the  presidium  renders  an 
account  of  its  activity  to  the  executive  committee  and  to  the 
entire  Soviet,  who  have  the  right  to  recall  it  and  to  replace 
it  at  any  time  or  period;  (d)  the  presidium  must  in  its  activity 
abide  strictly  by  the  instructions  of  the  executive  committee  and 
the  general  assembly. 

6.  The  executive  committee  and  its  functions:  (a)  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  of  the  Soviet  is  an  organ  formed  out  of  the 
membership  of  the  Soviet  (Paragraph  4).  The  president,  or 
one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  Soviet,  is  the  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee  (Paragraph  4)  ;  (b)  all  current  business 
of  the  Soviet  is  decided  and  carried  on  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  only  matters  of  particular  importance  are  submitted 
to  the  decision  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  Soviet;  (c)  ques- 
tions considered  by  the  executive  committee  are  passed  or  re- 
jected by  a  relative  majority  of  votes;  on  questions  of  extraor- 
dinary importance  a  minority  report  is  received,  entered  upon 
the  records,  and  reported  to  the  general  assembly;  (d)  ques- 
tions are  decided  by  an  open  vote,  and  only  in  matters  of  ex- 
traordinary importance,  at  the  request  of  members  of  the  exec- 
utive committee,  by  a  secret  ballot;  (e)  a  session  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  is  considered  legal  when  not  less  than  one-half 
of  its  membership  is  present:  (f)  members  of  the  executive 
committee  who  for  one  reason  or  another  cannot  attend  a  ses- 
sion of  the  executive  committee,  must  notify  the  member  of  the 

44 


executive  committee  on  duty  to  that  effect  not  later  than  half 
an  hour  before  the  opening  of  the  session;  (g)  members  of  the 
executive  committee  who  have  been  absent  from  three  sessions 
without  sufficient  reason  are  deprived  of  the  right  to  vote  at 
two  sessions,  and  the  presidium  notifies  their  constituents  re- 
garding the  case;  (h)  the  executive  committee  meets  once  a  . 
week  (irrespective  of  special  sessions)  ;  (i)  special  sessions,  to 
consider  questions  of  extraordinary  importance,  are  called  by 
the  chairman  or  the  vice-chairmen  or  by  three  members  of  the 
executive  committee;  (j)  members  of  the  executive  committee 
must  be  notified  of  a  special  session  by  a  summons  not  later 
than  two  hours  before  the  opening  of  the  session;  (k)  a  special 
session  is  legal  with  any  number  of  members  present;  (1)  the 
sessions  of  the  executive  committee  may  be  open  or  executive; 
(m)  members  of  the  executive  committee  are  on  duty  in  the 
reception  rooms  of  the  Soviet,  one  from  each  section,  by  turns. 

7.  General  sessions:  (a)  general  sessions  of  the  Soviets  are 
called  by  the  presidium  whenever  necessity  arises,  but  not  less 
than  twice  a  month;  (b)  general  sessions  may  be  regarded  as 
legal  when  half  of  the  entire  membership  of  the  Soviet  is  pres- 
ent; special  sessions,  when  any  number  are  present;  (c)  all 
questions  submitted  for  the  consideration  of  the  general  assem- 
bly must  first  be  passed  upon  either  by  the  executive  committee 
or  by  the  presidium;  (d)  a  general  session  may  be  called  also  at 
the  request  of  one-fifth  of  the  membership  of  the  Soviet;  (e)  ad- 
mission to  the  sessions  of  the  Soviet  is  by  ticket  only;  (f)  the 
sessions  may  be  open  or  executive  by  decision  of  the  presidium 
or  of  the  assembly  itself. 

8.  Committees:  (a)  committees  are  elected  in  each  case  by 
the  general  assembly,  by  the  executive  committee,  or  by  the 
presidium;  (b)  the  membership  of  a  committee  is  determined 
by  the  assembly;  (c)  the  chairman  of  each  committee  makes  a 
report  about  the  work  of  the  committee  to  the  general  assembly 
of  the  Soviet,  the  executive  committee,  and  the  presidium; 
(d)  auditing  committees,  control  committees,  etc.,  for  the  ex- 
amination of  the  Soviet  affairs,  are  selected  only  by  the  general 
assembly  of  the  Soviet;  (e)  each  committee  has  the  right  of 
independent  cooptation   of  learned  persons  with   the   privilege 

of  a  consulting  voice. 

Iv.   [Vl.?]   Oulianov  [Lenine] 


45 


The  Rights  and  Duties  of  Soviets 

1.  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies, 
being  local  organs,  are  quite  independent  in  regard  to  questions 
of  a  local  character,  but  always  act  in  accord  with  the  decrees 
of  the  central  Soviet  Government  as  well  as  of  the  larger  bodies 
(district,  provincial,  and  regional  Soviets)  of  which  they  form 
a  part. 

2.  Upon  the  Soviets,  as  organs  of  government,  devolve  the 
tasks  of  administration  and  service  in  all  departments  of  local 
life — administrative,  econoYnic,  financial,  and  educational. 

3.  Under  administration,  the  Soviets  carry  out  all  decrees  and 
decisions  of  the  central  Government,  take  measures  for  giving 
the  people  the  widest  information  about  those  decisions,  issue 
obligatory  ordinances,  make  requisitions  and  confiscations,  im- 
pose fines,  suppress  counter-revolutionary  organs  of  the  press, 
make  arrests,  and  dissolve  public  organizations  which  incite 
active  opposition  to  or  the  overthrow  of  the  Soviet  Government. 

Note:  The  Soviets  render  a  report  to  the  central  Soviet 
Government  regarding  all  measures  undertaken  by  them  and 
important  local  events. 

4.  The  Soviets  elect  from  their  number  an  executive  organ 
which  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  carrying  out  their  decisions 
and  the  performance  of  the  current  work  of  administration. 

Note  l!  The  Military-Revolutionary  Committees,  as  fighting 
organs  which  came  into  existence  during  the  Revolution,  are 
abolished. 

Note  2:  As  a  temporary  measure,  it  is  permitted  to  appoint 
Commissaries  in  those  provinces  and  districts  where  the  power 
of  the  Soviet  is  not  sufficiently  well-established  or  where  the 
Soviet  Government  is  not  exclusively  recognized. 

5.  The  Soviets,  being  organs  of  government,  are  allowed 
credits  from  state  funds  for  three  months  upon  the  presenta- 
tion of  detailed  budgets. 

Instructions  Regarding  the  Organization  of  Soviets 
At  the  session  of  the  collegium  under  the  People's  Commis- 
sary for  Internal  Affairs,  on  January  9,  1918,  instructions  re- 
garding the  organization  of  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and 
Peasants'  Deputies  were  voted  as  follows. 

In  all  Soviets,  in  place  of  the  old,  antiquated  government  in- 
stitutions, the  following  departments  or  commissariats  must 
first  be  organized: 

1.  Administration,  in  charge  of  the  domestic  and  foreign  re- 

46 


lations  of  the  Republic  and  technically  unifying  all  the  other 
departments. 

2.  Finance,  whose  duty  is  the  compilation  of  the  local  bud- 
get, the  collection  of  local  and  state  taxes,  the  carrying  out  of 
measures  for  the  nationalization  of  the  banks,  the  administra- 
tion of  the  People's  Bank,  control  over  the  disbursement  of 
national  funds,  etc. 

3.  Board  of  National  Economy,  which  organizes  the  manu- 
facture of  the  most  necessary  products  of  factory,  mill,  and  home 
industries,  determines  the  amount  of  raw  materials  and  fuel, 
obtains  and  distributes  them,  organizes  and  supplies  the  rural 
economy,  etc. 

4.  Land,  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  an  exact  survey  of  the  land, 
forests,  waters,  and  other  resources,  and  of  their  distribution  for 
purposes  of  utilization. 

5.  Labor,  which  must  organize  and  unite  trade  unions,  fac- 
tory and  mill  committees,  peasant  associations,  etc.,  and  also 
create  insurance  organizations  of  all  kinds. 

6.  Ways  of  Communication,  whose  duty  is  the  taking  of 
measures  for  the  nationalization  of  the  railways  and  steam- 
ship enterprises,  the  direction  of  this  most  important  branch 
of  the  national  economy,  the  building  of  new  roads  of  local  im- 
portance, etc. 

7.  Post,  Telegraph,  and  Telephone,  which  must  aid  and  de- 
velop these  state  enterprises. 

8.  Public  Education,  which  looks  after  the  education  and  in- 
struction of  the  population  in  the  school  and  out  of  school, 
establishes  new  schools,  kindergartens,  universities,  libraries, 
clubs,  etc.,  carries  out  measures  for  the  nationalization  of  print- 
ing-shops, the  publication  of  necessary  periodicals  and  books 
and  their  circulation  among  the  population,  etc. 

9.  Legal,  which  must  liquidate  the  old  courts,  organize  peo- 
ple's and  arbitration  courts,  take  charge  of  places  of  detention, 
reform  them,  etc. 

10.  Medico-Sanitary,  whose  duty  is  sanitary  and  hygienic  super- 
vision, the  organization  of  medical  aid  accessible  to  all,  sanitary 
equipment  of  urban  and  rural  settlements,  etc. 

11.  Public  Realty,  whose  duty  is  the  regulation  of  the  housing 
problem,  supervision  over  confiscated  and  public  buildings,  the 
construction  of  new  ones,  etc. 

Note:  Soviets  are  advised  to  utilize  the  organizational  ap- 
paratus of  Zemstvo  and  municipal  institutions,  with  appro- 
priate changes,  when  forming  the  departments. 

47 


At  the  same  session  was  passed  the  draft  of  the  decree  fixing 
the  boundaries  of  provinces,  districts,  etc.,  as  follows: 

1.  Questions  of  changes  of  boundaries  of  provinces,  districts, 
or  townships  are  to  be  settled  entirely  by  the  local  Soviets 
of    Workmen's,    Soldiers',    Peasants',    and    Laborers'    Deputies. 

2.  When  parts  of  one  province  or  territory  are  included  in 
another,  the  technical  questions  and  misunderstandings  which 
arise  are  dealt  with  by  mixed  commissions  of  the  interested 
Provincial  Soviets  or  their  congress. 

3.  A  similar  procedure  is  followed  when  the  boundaries  of  a 
district  or  township  are  rectified  at  the  expense  of  another. 

4.  Territories,  provinces,  districts,  and  townships  may  also 
be  divided  into  parts,  forming  new  administrative  economic 
units. 

5.  Detailed  data  regarding  all  such  changes  are  to  be  reported 
to  the  Commissar  for  Internal  Affairs. 

President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars : 

V.  Oulianov  (N.  Lenin) 
People's  Commissars: 

Petrovsky,   A.   Shliapnikov,  V.   Trutovsky, 
M.  Uritzky 
Director  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissars : 

Bonch-Bruyevich 
Secretary : 

N.  Gorbounov 


The  People's  Court 


'T'HE  Council  of  People's  Commissaries  resolves: 
-*-  1.  To  abolish  all  existing  general  legal  institutions,  such  as 
district  courts,  courts  of  appeal,  and  the  governing  Senate  with 
all  its  departments,  military  and  naval  courts  of  all  grades,  as 
well  as  commercial  courts,  and  to  replace  all  these  institutions 
with  courts  established  on  the  basis  of  democratic  elections. 

Regarding  further  procedure  and  the  continuation  of  unfin- 
ished cases  a  special  decree  will  be  issued. 

Beginning  October  25  of  this  year,  the  passage  of  time  limits 
is  stopped  until  the  issuance  of  a  special  decree. 

2.  To  abolish  the  existing  institution  of  justices  of  the  peace, 

48 


and  to  replace  the  justices  of  the  peace  heretofore  elected  by 
indirect  vote,  by  local  courts  consisting  of  a  permanent  local 
judge  and  two  jurors,  the  latter  of  whom  are  summoned  in  pairs 
to  each  session  from  special  lists  of  jurors.  Local  judges  are 
henceforth  to  be  elected  on  the  basis  of  direct  democratic  vote, 
and,  until  the  time  of  such  elections,  are  to  be  chosen  by  regional 
and  township  Soviets,  or,  where  there  are  none  such,  by  district, 
city,  and  provincial  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peas- 
ants' Deputies. 

These  same  Soviets  make  up  the  lists  of  alternating  jurors 
and  determine  the  time  of  their  presence  at  the  session. 

The  former  justices  of  the  peace  are  not  deprived  of  the  right 
to  be  elected  as  local  judges,  either  temporarily  by  the  Soviets 
or  finally  by  a  democratic  election,  if  they  express  their  consent 
thereto. 

Local  judges  adjudicate  all  civil  cases  to  an  amount  not  ex- 
ceeding 3,000  rubles,  and  criminal  cases  if  the  accused  is  liable 
to  a  penalty  of  not  more  than  two  years'  deprivation  of  freedom. 
The  verdicts  and  rulings  of  the  local  courts  are  final  and  no 
appeal  can  be  taken  from  them.  In  cases  in  which  the  re- 
covery of  over  100  rubles  in  money  or  deprivation  of  freedom 
for  more  than  seven  days  is  adjudged,  a  request  for  review  is 
allowed. 

The  court  of  cassation  is  the  district  session,  and  in  the  capi- 
tals the  metropolitan  session,  of  local  judges. 

For  the  trial  of  criminal  cases  at  the  fronts,  local  judges  are 
elected  by  regimental  Soviets  in  the  same  order,  and,  where 
there  are  none,  by  the  regimental  committees. 

Regarding  procedure  in  other  legal  cases,  a  special  decree  will 
be  issued. 

3.  To  abolish  all  existing  institutions  of  investigating  magis- 
trates and  the  procurator's  office,  as  well  as  the  grades  of 
counsellors-at-law  and  private  attorneys. 

Until  the  reformation  of  the  entire  system  of  legal  procedure, 
the  preliminary  investigation  in  criminal  cases  is  made  by  the 
local  judges  singly,  but  their  orders  of  personal  detention  and 
indictment  must  be  confirmed  by  the  decision  of  the  entire  local 
court. 

As  to  the  functions  of  prosecutors  and  counsel  for  defence, 
who  are  allowed  even  in  the  stage  of  preliminary  investigation, 
and  in  civil  cases  the  functions  of  solicitors,  all  citizens  of  moral 
integrity,  of  either  sex,  who  enjoy  civil  rights,  are  allowed  to 
perform  them. 

49 


4.  For  the  transfer  and  further  direction  of  cases  and  suits, 
proceedings  of  the  legal  bodies  as  well  as  of  officials  engaged 
in  preliminary  investigation  and  the  procurator's  office,  and  also 
of  the  associations  of  counsellors-at-law,  the  respective  local 
Soviets  elect  special  commissaries,  who  take  charge  of  the 
archives  and  the  properties  of  those  bodies. 

All  the  lower  and  clerical  personnel  of  the  abolished  institu- 
tions are  ordered  to  continue  in  their  positions  and  to  perform, 
under  the  general  direction  of  the  commissaries,  all  duties 
necessary  in  order  to  dispose  of  unfinished  cases,  and  also  to 
give  information  on  appointed  days  to  interested  persons  about 
the  state  of  their  cases. 

5.  Local  judges  try  cases  in  the  name  of  the  Russian  Republic, 
and  are  guided  in  their  rulings  and  verdicts  by  the  laws  of  the 
Governments  which  have  been  overthrown  only  in  so  far  as 
those  laws  are  not  annulled  by  the  revolution,  and  do  not  con- 
tradict the  revolutionary  conscience  and  revolutionary  concep- 
tion of  right. 

Note :  All  those  laws  are  considered  annulled  which  contradict 
the  decrees  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Soviets 
of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies  and  the  Work- 
men's and  Peasants'  Government,  also  the  minimum  programmes 
of  the  Russian  Social-Democratic  Labor  party  and  the  party  of 
Socialist  Revolutionaries. 

6.  In  all  civil  as  well  as  criminal  cases  the  parties  may  resort 
to  the  arbitration  court.  The  organization  of  the  arbitration 
court  will  be  determined  by  a  special  decree. 

7.  The  right  of  pardon  and  restoration  of  rights  of  persons 
convicted  in  criminal  cases  belongs  henceforth  to  the  legal 
authorities. 

8.  For  the  struggle  against  the  counter-revolutionary  forces 
by  means  of  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  revolution  and  its 
accomplishments,  and  also  for  the  trial  of  proceedings  against 
profiteering,  speculation,  sabotage,  and  other  misdeeds  of  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  officials,  and  other  persons,  workmen's 
and  peasants'  revolutionary  tribunals  are  established,  consist- 
ing of  a  chairman  and  six  jurors,  serving  in  turn,  elected  by 
provincial  or  city  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants' 
Deputies. 

For  the  conduct  of  the  preliminary  investigation  in  such  cases, 
special  investigating  commissions  are  formed  under  the  above 
Soviets. 

All    existing:    investigating    commissions    are    abolished,    and 

50 


their  cases  and  proceedings  are  transferred  to  the  newly-formed 
investigating  commissions. 

President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars: 

V.  Oulianov   (Lenin) 
Commissars : 

A.  Shlikhter,  L.  Trotzky,  A.  Shliapnikov, 
I.  Djugashvili  (Stalin),  N.  Avilov 
(N.  Glyebov),  P.  Stuchka 
November  24,  1917 


Instructions  to  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal 

*~pHE   Revolutionary  Tribunal  is  guided  by  the  following  in- 
*■  structions: 

1.  The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  has  jurisdiction  in  cases  of 
persons  (a)  who  organize  uprisings  against  the  authority  of  the 
Workmen's  and  Peasants'  Government,  actively  oppose  the  latter 
or  do  not  obey  it,  or  call  upon  other  persons  to  oppose  or  disobey 
it;  (b)  who  utilize  their  positions  in  the  state  or  public  service 
to  disturb  or  hamper  the  regular  progress  of  work  in  the  insti- 
tution or  enterprise  in  which  they  are  or  have  been  serving 
(sabotage,  concealing  or  destroying  documents  or  property, 
etc.) ;  (c)  who  stop  or  reduce  production  of  articles  of  general 
use  without  actual  necessity  for  so  doing;  (d)  who  violate  the 
decrees,  orders,  binding  ordinances,  and  other  published  acts  of 
the  organs  of  the  Workmen's  and  Peasants'  Government,  if  such 
acts  stipulate  a  trial  by  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  for  their 
violation;  (e)  who,  taking  advantage  of  their  social  or  admin- 
istrative position,  misuse  the  authority  given  them  by  the  revolu- 
tionary people.  Crimes  against  the  people  committed  by  means 
of  the  press  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  specially  instituted 
Revolutionary  Tribunal. 

2.  The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  for  offences  indicated  in  Arti- 
cle 1  imposes  upon  the  guilty  the  following  penalties:  (1)  fine, 
(2)  deprivation  of  freedom,  (3)  exile  from  the  capitals,  from 
particular  localities,  or  from  the  territory  of  the  Russian  Re- 
public, (4)  public  censure,  (5)  declaring  the  offender  a  public 
enemy,  (6)  deprivation  of  all  or  some  political  rights,  (7)  se- 
questration or  confiscation,  partial  or  general,  of  property,  (8) 
sentence  of  compulsory  public  work. 

The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  fixes  the  penalty,  being  guided  by 

51 


the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  the  dictates  of  the  revolu- 
tionary conscience. 

3.  (a)  The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  is  elected  by  the  Soviets 
of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies  and  consists  of 
one  permanent  chairman,  two  permanent  substitutes,  one  per- 
manent secretary  and  two  substitutes,  and  forty  jurors.  All 
persons,  except  the  jurors,  are  elected  for  three  months  and  may 
be  recalled  by  the  Soviets  before  the  expiration  of  the  term. 

(b)  The  jurors  are  selected  for  one  month  from  a  general  list 
of  jurors  by  the  Executive  Committees  of  the  Soviets  of  Work- 
men's, Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies  by  drawing  lots,  and 
lists  of  jurors  numbering  six,  and  one  or  two  in  addition,  are 
made  up  for  each  session. 

(c)  The  session  of  each  successive  jury  of  the  Revolutionary 
Tribunal  lasts  not  longer  than  one  week. 

(d)  A  stenographic  record  is  kept  of  the  entire  proceedings 
of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 

(e)  The  grounds  for  instituting  proceedings  are:  reports  of 
legal  and  administrative  institutions  and  officials,  public,  trade, 
and  party  organizations,  and  private  persons. 

(f)  For  the  conduct  of  the  preliminary  investigation  in  such 
cases  an  investigating  commission  is  created  under  the  Revolu- 
tionary Tribunal,  consisting  of  six  members  elected  by  the  Soviets 
of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies. 

(g)  Upon  receiving  information  or  complaint,  the  investigat- 
ing commission  examines  it  and  within  forty-eight  hours  either 
orders  the  dismissal  of  the  case,  if  it  does  not  find  that  a  crime 
has  been  committed,  or  transfer  it  to  the  proper  jurisdiction,  or 
brings  it  up  for  trial  at  the  session  of  the  Revolutionary  Tri- 
bunal. 

(h)  The  orders  of  the  investigating  commission  about  arrests, 
searches,  abstracts  of  papers,  and  releases  of  detained  persons 
are  valid  if  issued  jointly  by  three  members.  In  cases  which  do 
not  permit  of  delay  such  orders  may  be  issued  by  any  member 
of  the  investigating  commission  singly,  on  the  condition  that 
within  twelve  hours  the  measure  shall  be  approved  by  the  in- 
vestigating commission. 

(i)  The  order  of  the  investigating  commission  is  carried  out 
by  the  Red  Guard,  the  militia,  the  troops,  and  the  executive 
organs  of  the  Republic. 

(j)  Complaints  against  the  decisions  of  the  investigating 
commission  are  submitted  to  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  through 

52 


its  president  and  are  considered   at  executive  sessions   of  the 
Revolutionary  Tribunal. 

(k)  The  investigating  commission  has  the  right  (1)  to  de- 
mand of  all  departments  and  officials,  as  well  as  of  all  local 
self-governing  bodies,  legal  institutions  and  authorities,  public 
notaries,  social  and  trade  organizations,  commercial  and  indus- 
trial enterprises,  and  governmental,  public,  and  private  credit 
institutions,  the  delivery  of  necessary  documents  and  informa- 
tion, and  of  unfinished  cases;  (2)  to  examine,  through  its  mem- 
bers or  special  representatives,  the  transactions  of  all  above- 
enumerated  institutions  and  officials  in  order  to  secure  necessary 
information. 

4.  Ths  sessions  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  are  public. 

5.  The  verdicts  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  are  rendered  by 
a  majority  of  votes  of  the  members  of  the  Tribunal. 

6.  The  legal  investigation  is  made  with  the  participation  of 
the  prosecution  and  defence. 

7.  (a)  Citizens  of  either  sex  who  enjoy  political  rights  are  ad- 
mitted at  the  will  of  the  parties  as  prosecutors  and  counsel  for 
the  defence,  with  the  right  to  participate  in  the  case. 

(b)  Under  the  Revolutionary  tribunals  a  collegium  of  persons 
is  created  who  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  the  law,  in 
the  form   of   public   prosecution   as  well   as  of  public  defence. 

(c)  The  above-mentioned  collegium  is  formed  by  the  free 
registration  of  all  persons  who  desire  to  render  aid  to  revolu- 
tionary justice,  and  who  present  recommendations  from  the  So- 
viets of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies. 

8.  The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  may  invite  for  each  case  a 
public  prosecutor  from  the  membership  of  the  above-named  col- 
legium. 

9.  If  the  accused  does  not  for  some  reason  use  his  right  to 
invite  counsel  for  defence,  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal,  at  his 
request,  appoints  a  member  of  the  collegium  for  his  defence. 

10.  Besides  the  above-mentioned  prosecutors  and  defence,  one 
prosecutor  and  one  counsel  for  defence,  drawn  from  the  public 
pi'esent  at  the  session,  may  take  part  in  the  court's  proceedings. 

11.  The  verdicts  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  are  final.  In 
case  of  violation  of  the  form  of  procedure  established  by  these 
instructions,  or  the  discovery  of  indications  of  obvious  injustice 
in  the  verdict,  the  People's  Commissar  of  Justice  has  the  right 
to  address  to  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Soviets  of 
Workers',  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies  a  request  to  order  a 
second  and  last  trial  of  the  case. 

53 


12.  The  maintenance  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  is  charged 
to  the  account  of  the  state.  The  amount  of  compensation  and 
the  daily  fees  are  fixed  by  the  Soviets  of  Workers',  Soldiers',  and 
Peasants'  Deputies.  The  jurors  receive  the  difference  between 
the  daily  fees  and  their  daily  earnings,  if  the  latter  are  less  than 
the  daily  fees;  at  the  same  time  the  jurors  may  not  be  deprived 
of  their  positions  during  the  session. 

People's  Commissar  of  Justice: 
1%  Z.  Steinberg 

December  19,  1917 


The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  of  the  Press 

1.  Under  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  is  created  a  Revolution- 
ary Tribunal  of  the  Press.  This  Tribunal  will  have  jurisdiction 
of  crimes  and  offences  against  the  people  committed  by  means  of 
the  press. 

2.  Crimes  and  offences  by  means  of  the  press  are  the  publica- 
tion and  circulation  of  any  false  or  perverted  reports  and  infor- 
mation about  events  of  public  life,  in  so  far  as  they  constitute 
an  attempt  upon  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  revolutionary 
people. 

3.  The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  of  the  Press  consists  of  three 
members,  elected  for  a  period  not  longer  than  three  months  by 
the  Soviet  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies. 
These  members  are  charged  with  the  conduct  of  the  preliminary 
investigation  as  well  as  the  trial  of  the  case. 

4.  The  following  serve  as  grounds  for  instituting  proceedings : 
reports  of  legal  or  administrative  institutions,  public  organiza- 
tions, or  private  persons. 

5.  The  prosecution  and  defence  are  conducted  on  the  principles 
laid  down  in  the  instructions  to  the  general  Revolutionary  Tri- 
bunal. 

6.  The  sessions  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  of  the  Press  are 
public. 

7.  The  decisions  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  of  the  Press 
are  final  and  are  not  subject  to  appeal. 

8.  The  Revolutionary  Tribunal  imposes  the  following  penal- 
ties: (1)  fine,  (2)  expression  of  public  censure,  which  the  con- 
victed organ  of  the  press  brings  to  the  general  knowledge  in  a 
way  indicated  by  the  Tribunal,  (3)  the  publication  in  a  promi- 
nent place  or  in  a  special  edition  of  a  denial  of  the  false  report, 
(4)   temporary  or  permanent  suppression  of  the  publication  or 

54 


its  exclusion  from  circulation,  (5)  confiscation  to  national  own- 
ership of  the  printing-shop  or  property  of  the  organ  of  the  press 
if  it  belongs  to  the  convicted  parties. 

9.  The  trial  of  an  organ  of  the  press  by  the  Revolutionary 
Tribunal  of  the  Press  does  not  absolve  the  guilty  persons  from 
general  criminal  responsibility. 

People's  Commissar  of  Justice: 
I.  Z.  Steinberg 
December  18,  1917 


To   the   Soviet   of   Workmen's,    Soldiers*, 
and  Peasants'  Deputies,  a  Request  for 
the  Immediate  Election  of  Com- 
missaries   of    Justice,    Their 
Duties  and  Rights 

BY  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissaries 
[November  24,  1917]  the  general  legal  institutions  and  jus- 
tices' courts,  the  procurator's  office,  the  institutions  of  investi- 
gating magistrates,  counsellors-at-law,  and  private  attorneys,  are 
abolished.  Until  the  creation  of  permanent  legal  institutions, 
elect  immediately  Commissaries  of  Justice. 

The  duties  of  the  elected  Commissaries  are  the  safe-keeping 
of  archives  and  the  property  of  the  courts,  the  direction  of  un- 
finished cases,  and  the  giving  of  information  to  interested  persons. 
In  view  of  the  approach  of  the  time  for  rendering  semi-annual 
and  annual  financial  reports  for  1917,  the  elected  Commissaries 
are  requested  to  take  measures  for  the  immediate  preparation 
and  delivery  of  the  above-mentioned  reports  in  the  established 
form  and  order.  The  publications  of  the  official  "Gazette  of  the 
Provisional  Workmen's  and  Peasants'  Government"  are  to  serve 
as  a  guide  to  the  local  authorities. 

Report  the  beginning  of  the  activity  of  the  new  courts,  their 
structure,  the  names  of  the  Commissaries  of  Justice.  Report 
the  tentative  budgets  of  the  legal  department  for  1918. 

The  credits  of  the  legal  department  which  were  not  used 
locally  in  1917,  you  may  use  by  order  of  the  Soviets. 

Instructions  for  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  of  the  Press,  and 
for  general  courts,  criminal  and  civil,  are  being  prepared. 
People's  Commissar  of  Justice: 
I.  Z.  Steinberg 

55 


Marriage,  Children,  and  Registration 
of  Civil  Status 

THE  Russian  Republic  henceforth  recognizes  civil  marriage 
only. 
Civil  marriage   is   performed   on   the  basis   of  the  following 
rules : 

1.  Persons  who  wish  to  contract  marriage  declare  [their  in- 
tention] orally  or  by  a  written  statement  to  the  department  of 
registration  of  marriages  and  births  at  the  city  hall  (regional, 
district,  township,  Zemstvo  institutions),  according  to  the  place 
of  their  residence. 

Note:  Church  marriage  is  a  private  affair  of  those  contract- 
ing it,  while  civil  marriage  is  obligatory. 

2.  Declarations  of  intention  to  contract  marriage  are  not 
accepted  (a)  from  persons  of  the  male  sex  younger  than  eighteen 
years,  and  of  the  female  sex,  sixteen  years  of  age;  in  Trans- 
caucasia the  native  inhabitants  may  enter  into  marriage  upon 
attaining  the  age  of  sixteen  for  the  groom  and  thirteen  for  the 
bride;  (b)  from  relatives  in  the  direct  line,  full  and  half-brothers 
and  sisters ;  consanguinity  is  recognized  also  between  a  child  born 
out  of  wedlock  and  his  descendants  on  one  side  and  relatives  on 
the  other;   (c)  from  married  persons,  and  (d)  from  insane. 

3.  Those  wishing  to  contract  marriage  appear  at  the  depart- 
ment of  registration  of  marriages  and  sign  a  statement  con- 
cerning the  absence  of  the  obstacles  to  contracting  marriage 
enumerated  in  Article  2  of  this  decree,  and  also  a  statement 
that  they  contract  marriage  voluntarily. 

Those  guilty  of  deliberately  making  false  statements  about 
the  absence  of  the  obstacles  enumerated  in  Article  2  are  crimi- 
nally prosecuted  for  false  statements  and  the  marriage  is  de- 
clared invalid. 

4.  Upon  the  signing  of  the  above-mentioned  statement,  the 
director  of  the  department  of  registration  of  marriages  records 
the  act  of  marriage  in  the  book  of  marriage  registries  and  then 
declares  the  marriage  to  have  become  legally  effective. 

When  contracting  marriage  the  parties  are  allowed  to  decide 
freely  whether  they  will  henceforth  be  called  by  the  surname  of 
the  husband  or  wife  or  by  a  combined  surname. 

As  proof  of  the  act  of  marriage,  the  contracting  parties  im- 
mediately receive  a  copy  of  the  certificate  of  their  mar- 
riage.    ... 

56 


5.  Complaints  against  the  refusal  to  perform  marriage  or 
incorrect  registration  are  lodged,  without  limitation  of  time, 
with  the  local  judge  in  the  locality  where  the  department  of 
registration  of  marriage  is;  the  ruling  of  the  local  judge  on 
such  complaint  may  be  appealed  in  the  usual  way. 

6.  In  case  the  former  books  of  registration  of  marriages  have 
been  destroyed,  or  lost  in  some  other  way,  or  if  for  some  other 
cause  married  persons  cannot  obtain  a  certificate  of  their  mar- 
riage, those  persons  are  given  a  right  to  submit  a  declaration 
to  the  respective  department  of  registration  of  marriages,  ac- 
cording to  the  place  of  residence  of  both  parties  or  one  of  them, 
to  the  effect  that  they  have  been  in  the  state  of  wedlock  since 
such  and  such  time.  Such  declaration  is  attested,  in  addition 
to  the  statement  stipulated  by  Article  3,  by  a  further  statement 
of  the  parties  that  the  book  of  registration  has  really  been  lost 
or  that  for  some  other  sufficient  cause  they  cannot  obtain  a 
copy  of  the  certificate. 

Registration  of  Births. 

7.  The  registration  of  the  birth  of  a  child  is  made  by  the 
same  department  of  registration  of  marriages  and  births  in  the 
place  of  residence  of  the  mother,  and  a  special  entry  of  each 
birth  is  made  in  the  book  of  registration  of  births.     .     .     . 

8.  The  birth  of  a  child  must  be  reported  to  the  department 
either  by  his  parents  or  one  of  them,  or  by  the  persons  in  whose 
care,  because  of  the  death  of  his  parents,  the  child  remained, 
with  an  indication  of  the  name  and  surname  adopted  for  the 
child  and  the  presentation  of  two  witnesses  to  attest  the  fact 
of  birth. 

9.  The  books  of  registration  of  marriages  as  well  at  the 
books  of  registration  of  births  are  kept  in  two  copies,  and  one 
copy  is  sent  at  the  end  of  the  year  to  the  proper  court  for 
preservation. 

10.  Children  born  out  of  wedlock  are  on  an  equality  with 
those  born  in  wedlock  with  regard  to  the  rights  and  duties  of 
parents  towards  children,  and  likewise  of  children  towards 
parents. 

The  persons  who  make  a  declaration  and  give  a  signed  state- 
ment to  that  effect  are  registered  as  the  father  and  mother  of 
the  child. 

Those  guilty  of  deliberately  making  false  statements  regain- 
ing the  above  are  criminally  prosecuted  for  false  testimony  and 
the  registration  is  declared  invalid. 

57 


In  case  the  father  of  a  child  born  out  of  wedlock  does  not 
make  such  a  declaration,  the  mother  of  the  child  or  the  guardian 
or  the  child  itself  has  the  right  to  prove  fatherhood  by  legal 
means. 

Registration  of  Deaths. 

11.  The  record  of  the  death  of  a  person  is  made  in  the  place 
where  the  death  occurred  by  the  department  which  has  charge 
of  the  registration  of  marriages  and  births,  by  entry  in  a  spe- 
cial book  for  registration  of  deaths.     .     .     . 

12.  The  death  of  a  person  must  be  reported  to  the  department 
by  the  legal  or  administrative  authorities  or  persons  in  whose 
care  the  deceased  was. 

13.  Institutions  in  charge  of  cemeteries  are  henceforth  for- 
bidden to  place  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  burial  in  cemetery 
grounds  in  accordance  with  the  ritual  of  civil  funerals. 

14.  All  religious  and  administrative  institutions  which  hith- 
erto have  had  charge  of  the  registration  of  marriages,  births, 
and  deaths  according  to  the  customs  of  any  religious  sect,  are 
ordered  to  transfer  immediately  all  the  registration  books  to 
the  respective  municipal,  district,  rural,  or  Zemstvo  adminis- 
trations. 

President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars: 

V.  Oulianov  (Lenin) 
President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of 
the      Soviets     of     Workmen's,      Soldiers',     and 
Peasants'  Deputies: 

Ya.  Sverdlov 
Director  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissars: 

Bonch-Bruyevich 
Secretary : 

N.  Gorbounov 
December  18,  1917. 


Divorce 

1.  Marriage  is  annulled  by  the  petition  of  both  parties  or 
even  of  one  of  them. 

2.  The  above  petition  is  submitted,  according  to  the  rules  of 
local  jurisdiction,  to  the  local  court. 

.Note:  A  declaration  of  annulment  of  marriage  by  mutual 
consent  may  be  filed  directly  with  the  department  of  registration 
of  marriages  in  which  a  record  of  that  marriage  is  kept,  which 

58 


department  makes  an  entry  of  the  annulment  of  the  marriage 
in  the  record  and  issues  a  certificate. 

3.  On  the  day  appointed  for  the  examination  of  the  petition 
for  the  annulment  of  marriage,  the  local  judge  summons  both 
parties  or  their  solicitors. 

4.  If  the  residence  of  the  party  who  is  to  be  summoned  is 
unknown,  the  petitioner  is  allowed  to  file  the  petition  for  an- 
nulment of  marriage  in  the  place  of  residence  of  the  absent 
party  last  known  to  the  petitioner,  or  in  the  place  of  residence 
of  the  petitioner,  stating  to  the  court,  however,  the  last  known 
place  of  residence  of  the  defendant. 

5.  If  the  place  of  residence  of  the  party  who  is  to  be  sum- 
moned is  unknown,  then  the  day  for  the  trial  of  the  case  is  set 
not  earlier  than  the  expiration  of  two  months  from  the  date  of 
the  publication  of  a  notice  of  summons  in  the  local  Government 
gazette,  and  the  summons  is  sent  to  the  address  of  the  last  known 
place  of  residence  of  the  defendant  given  by  the  petitioner. 

6.  Having  convinced  himself  that  the  petition  for  the  annul- 
ment of  the  marriage  really  comes  from  both  parties  or  from 
one  of  them,  the  judge  personally  and  singly  renders  the  de- 
cision of  the  annulment  of  the  marriage  and  issues  a  certificate 
thereof  to  the  parties.  At  the  same  time,  the  judge  transmits 
a  copy  of  his  decision  to  the  department  of  registration  of  mar- 
riages where  the  annulled  marriage  was  performed  and  where 
the  book  containing  a  record  of  the  marriage  is  kept. 

7.  When  annulling  a  marriage  by  mutual  consent,  the  parties 
are  obliged  to  state  in  their  petition  what  surnames  the  divorced 
parties  and  their  children  are  to  bear  in  the  future.  But  when 
dissolving  the  marriage  by  the  petition  of  one  of  the  parties, 
and  in  the  absence  of  an  understanding  about  this  matter  be- 
tween the  parties,  the  divorced  parties  preserve  their  own  sur- 
names, and  the  surname  of  the  children  is  determined  by  the 
judge,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  of  the  parties,  by  the  local 
court. 

8.  In  case  the  parties  are  agreed  on  the  matter,  the  judge, 
simultaneously  with  the  decision  of  annulment  of  the  marriage, 
determines  with  which  of  the  parents  the  minor  children  be- 
gotten of  the  marriage  shall  live,  and  which  of  the  parents  must 
bear  the  expense  of  maintenance  and  education  of  the  children, 
and  to  what  extent  and  also  whether  and  to  what  extent  the 
husband  is  obliged  to  furnish  food  and  maintenance  to  his  di- 
vorced wife. 

9.  But  if  no  understanding  shall  be  reached,  then  the  par- 

59 


ticipation  of  the  husband  in  furnishing  his  divorced  wife  with 
food  and  maintenance  when  she  has  no  means  of  her  own  or 
has  insufficient  means  and  is  unable  to  work,  as  well  as  the 
question  with  whom  the  children  are  to  live,  is  decided  by  a 
regular  civil  suit  in  the  local  court,  irrespective  of  the  amount 
of  the  suit.  The  judge,  having  rendered  the  decision  annulling 
the  marriage,  determines  temporarily,  until  the  settlement  of 
the  dispute,  the  fate  of  the  children,  and  also  rules  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  temporary  maintenance  of  the  children  and  the  wife, 
if  she  is  in  need  of  it. 

10.  Suits  for  adjudging  marriages  illegal  or  invalid  belong 
henceforth  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  local  court. 

11.  The  operation  of  this  law  extends  to  all  citizens  of  the 
Russian  Republic  irrespective  of  their  adherence  to  this  or  that 
religious  sect. 

12.  All  suits  for  annulment  of  marriage  which  are  now  tried 
in  ecclesiastical  consistories  of  the  Greek- Catholic  and  other 
denominations,  in  the  governing  synod  and  all  other  institutions 
of  Christian  and  non-Christian  religions,  and  by  officials  in 
charge  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  all  denominations,  and  in 
which  no  decisions  have  been  rendered  or  the  decisions  already 
rendered  have  not  become  legally  effective,  are  declared  by  reason 
of  this  law  null  and  void,  and  are  subject  to  immediate  transfer 
to  the  local  district  courts  for  safe-keeping,  with  all  archives  in 
the  possession  of  the  above-mentioned  institutions  and  persons 
having  jurisdiction  in  divorce  suits.  The  parties  are  given  the 
right  to  file  a  new  petition  for  the  annulment  of  the  marriage 
according  to  this  decree,  without  awaiting  the  dismissal  of  the 
first  suit,  and  a  new  summons  of  absent  parties  (Paragraphs  4 
and  5)  is  not  obligatory  if  such  a  summons  was  published  in  the 
former  order. 

President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Soviets  of  Workers',  Soldiers',  and  Peasants' 
Deputies : 

Ya.  Sverdlov 
President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars: 

V.  Oulianov  (Lenin) 
Director  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissars : 

Bonch-Bruyevich 
Secretary : 

N.  Gorbounov 
December  18,  1917 

60 


Eight-Hour  Law 

1.  This  law  applies  to  all  establishments  and  industries  irre- 
spective of  their  size  or  to  whom  they  belong,  and  to  all  persons 
employed  in  hired  labor. 

2.  The  working  time,  or  the  number  of  working  hours  in  a 
day,  is  considered  to  be  the  time  during  which,  according  to  the 
contract  of  employment  (Articles  48,  60,  96,  98,  and  103  of  the 
Industrial  Labor  law),  the  workman  is  obliged  to  be  in  the  in- 
dustrial establishment  at  the  disposal  of  its  superintendent  for 
the  performance  of  the  work. 

Note  1.  In  underground  work  the  time  taken  by  the  descent 
into  the  mine  and  ascent  to  the  surface  is  considered  working 
time. 

Note  2.  The  working  time  of  workmen  sent  to  perform  any 
kind  of  labor  beyond  the  boundaries  of  an  establishment  is  de- 
termined by  special  agreement  with  the  workmen. 

3.  The  working  time  fixed  by  the  rules  governing  the  internal 
organization  of  the  establishment  (Clause  1,  Article  103  of  the 
Industrial  Labor  law)  must  not  exceed  eight  working  hours  in  a 
day  and  forty-eight  hours  in  a  week,  including  therein  also  the 
time  employed  in  cleaning  the  engine  and  in  putting  the  premises 
in  order. 

On  Christmas  eve  (December  24)  and  on  the  Pentecost  holiday 
(Whitsunday)  work" is  stopped  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

4.  Not  later  than  six  hours  after  the  beginning  of  work  a 
free  interval  for  rest  and  eating  must  be  designated.  The  in- 
terval must  not  be  shorter  than  one  hour. 

Free  recesses  during  work  are  those  which  are  fixed  by  the 
rules  of  the  internal  organization;  during  such  recesses  the 
workman  is  free  to  dispose  of  his  time  and  to  leave  the  bound- 
aries of  the  establishment. 

During  the  free  recesses  in  working  time  the  engines,  lathes, 
and  benches  must  be  stopped;  exceptions  from  this  rule  are 
allowed  only  for  such  over-time  work  as  is  performed  in  accord- 
ance with  Articles  18-22  of  this  law,  as  well  as  for  engines  and 
motors  which  are  working  for  ventilation,  water-supply,  lighting, 
etc.;  moreover,  work  may  not  be  stopped  in  those  manufacturies 
in  which  stoppage  is  impossible  for  technical  reasons  (such  as 
unfinished  casting  or  unfinished  polishing). 

Note  1.  Establishments  whose  work  is  recognized  by  law  or 
by  the  main  chamber  of  labor  as  continuous  and  which  is  per- 
formed in  three  shifts  a  day,  do  not  observe  the  rules  regarding 
recesses,  but  are  obliged  to  give  the  workman  the  right  to  take 
food  during  his  work. 

61 


Note  2.  If  a  workman,  owing  to  the  conditions  of  his  work, 
cannot  absent  himself  from  the  place  of  work  to  take  food,  then 
a  room  or  place  is  to  be  provided  for  him  for  that  purpose.  The 
setting  aside  of  a  special  room  for  the  above  purpose  is  obliga- 
tory for  those  workmen  who,  when  working,  come  into  contact 
with  materials  recognized  by  the  rulings  of  the  main  board  of 
factory  and  mining  industries  (or  the  organ  taking  its  place) 
as  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  workmen  (lead,  mercury,  etc.). 

5.  The  general  duration  of  all  recesses  during  twenty-four 
hours  shall  not  exceed  two  hours. 

6.  Night  time  is  considered  the  time  between  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  and  six  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

7.  In  the  night  time  it  is  forbidden  to  utilize  the  labor  of 
workers  of  the  female  sex,  or  of  workers  of  the  male  sex  under 
sixteen  years  of  age. 

8.  For  enterprises  working  two  shifts  of  workmen,  the  night 
time  is  considered  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  until  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  while  the  free  recesses  (Article  4)  may 
be  reduced  to  half  an  hour  for  each  shift. 

9.  In  those  cases  where,  by  request  of  the  workers  (for  in- 
stance, in  brick  works)  or  on  account  of  climatic  conditions,  it 
is  desired  to  make  the  midday  recess  more  lengthy,  the  main 
board  of  factory  and  mining  industries  (or  the  organ  taking  its 
place)  may  permit  a  corresponding  departure  from  the  rules  in 
Articles  4,  5,  6,  and  8  of  this  statute. 

10.  When  hiring  minors  under  eighteen  years  of  age  the  fol- 
lowing rules  in  addition  to  the  above  are  applied:  (a)  minors 
under  fourteen  years  are  not  permitted  to  work  for  hire;  (b) 
the  working  time  of  minors  under  eighteen  may  not  be  longer 
than  six  hours  a  day. 

Note:  Beginning  January  1,  1919,  all  persons  who  have  not 
reached  fifteen  years  are  not  permitted  to  work  for  hire,  and  be- 
ginning January  1,  1920,  those  who  have  not  reached  twenty 
years  of  age. 

11.  In  the  table  of  holidays  on  which  work  is  stopped  (Clause 
2,  Article  103  of  Industrial  Labor  law)  are  included  all  Sundays 
and  the  following  holidays:  January  1,  January  6,  February  27, 
March  25,  May  1,  August  15,  September  14,  December  25  and 
26,  Friday  and  Saturday  of  Passion  week,  Monday  and  Tuesday 
of  Easter  week,  Ascension  Day,  and  the  second  day  of  Pentecost. 

Note  1.  For  non-Christians  it  is  permitted  to  include  other 
holidays  instead  of  Sundays,  according  to  the  precepts  of  their 
religion;  of  the  remaining  holidays  mentioned  in  this  article 
only  those  are  obligatory  for  them  which  are  not  indicated  in 
the  following  note. 

62 


Note  2.  By  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  workmen  of  an 
establishment  or  industry,  or  a  part  of  them,  the  holidays  of 
January  1  and  6,  August  15,  September  14,  December  26,  Satur- 
day of  Passion  week,  and  Easter  Monday  may  be  replaced  by 
other  free  days. 

12.  In  one-shift  day  work  the  least  duration  of  the  Sunday 
and  holiday  rest  given  each  workman  is  fixed  at  forty-two  hours. 
In  two-shift  work  with  two  complements  of  workmen,  and  in 
three-shift  work  with  three  complements  of  workmen,  the  least 
duration  of  a  Sunday  and  holiday  rest  for  each  workman  is  fixed 
by  agreement  with  the  workmen's  organizations. 

13.  By  mutual  agreement  of  the  superintendent  of  the  estab- 
lismment  or  industry  with  the  people  employed  by  it,  the  latter 
may,  as  a  departure  from  the  rules  about  holidays  indicated  in 
Article  11,  be  engaged  in  work  on  a  holiday  instead  of  on  a 
week-day.  Such  an  understanding  must  immediately  be  reported 
to  the  proper  officials  who  look  after  the  execution  of  this  law. 

14.  The  main  board  of  factory  and  mining  industries  (or 
the  organ  taking  its  place)  is  given  the  right  to  issue  regula- 
tions permitting,  to  the  extent  of  real  necessity,  departures  from 
the  rules  set  forth  in  Articles  3,  4,  5,  and  8  for  those  establish- 
ments which,  by  the  nature  of  their  production  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  public  needs,  must  perform  the  work  in  the  night  time 
or  must  work  irregularly  at  different  seasons  of  the  year  (for 
instance,  work  for  lighting  and  water  supply  of  cities). 

15.  In  manufactories  and  works  in  which  the  workmen  are 
subjected  to  the  operation  of  particularly  unfavorable  condi- 
tions, or  to  danger  of  occupational  poisoning  (such  as  work  in 
an  extraordinarily  high  temperature,  in  mercury  and  bleaching 
factories,  etc.),  the  working  time  indicated  in  Articles  3-5  and  8 
is  subject  to  further  reduction.  A  list  of  such  works  and  manu- 
factories, with  the  indication  of  the  duration  of  the  working 
time  permissible  in  each  line  of  work,  as  well  as  other  conditions 
of  the  work,  is  to  be  compiled  by  the  main  board  of  factory  and 
mining  industries  (or  the  organ  which  takes  its  place). 

16.  Women  and  youths  of  either  sex  under  eighteen  years  of 
age  are  not  permitted  to  work  underground. 

17.  A  departure  from  the  rules  stated  in  Articles  3-5  and  8-12 
is  permitted  by  agreement  with  the  workmen  and  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  workmen's  organizations  with  regard  to  workmen 
engaged  in  auxiliary  work,  such  as  repairs,  care  of  boilers, 
motors,  lathes,  factory  heating,  water  supply,  lighting  of  the 
factory  buildings,  guard  and  fire  duty,  and  in  general  such 
work    without   whose   preliminary    performance   the    industrial 

63 


enterprise  can  not  be  put  in  operation  at  the  fixed  time  and 
which  must  of  necessity  be  performed  after  the  stoppage  of  the 
work. 

18.  The  work  which  is  performed  by  the  workman  at  a  time 
when,  according  to  the  tables  of  working  time,  he  is  not  sup- 
posed to  work  is  considered  over-time.  Over-time  work  is  per- 
mitted only  when  conditions  stated  in  Articles  19-23  of  this 
statute  are  observed  and  when  it  is  paid  for  at  a  double  rate. 

19.  Persons  of  the  female  sex,  and  persons  of  the  male  sex 
who  have  not  reached  eighteen  years  of  age,  are  not  permitted  to 
work  over-time. 

20.  Workmen  of  the  male  sex  older  than  eighteen  years  may 
work  over-time  with  the  permission  of  the  workmen's  organization 
only  in  the  following  cases:  (a)  when  over-time  work  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  finish  in  time  the  work  begun,  which  because 
of  unforeseen  and  accidental  delay  could  not  by  the  mechanical 
conditions  of  production  be  finished  in  the  normal  working  time 
(according  to  the  rules  of  the  establishment),  and  when  the 
stoppage  of  that  work  at  the  set  time  might  cause  danger  or 
injury  to  materials  and  the  mechanism  (work  with  chemical 
processes,  casting,  etc.,  may  be  considered  of  that  nature)  ;  (b) 
for  the  performance  of  work  necessary  to  avert  danger  to  life 
or  property,  or  for  the  removal  of  accidental  causes  which  have 
disturbed  the  technical  conditions  necessary  for  the  regular 
water  supply,  lighting,  sanitation,  and  urgent  public  communi- 
cation; (c)  when  working  on  necessary  repairs  in  case  of  sudden 
injury  to  boilers,  motors,  lathes,  and,  in  general,  unforeseen 
derangement  of  mechanisms,  apparatus,  or  structures  (build- 
ings, dams,  etc.)  which  cause  the  stoppage  of  the  work  of  the 
entire  establishment  or  any  of  its  branches;  (d)  when  perform- 
ing temporary  work  in  any  branch  of  the  establishment  in  cases 
where  because  of  fire,  break-down,  or  unforeseen  circumstances, 
the  work  of  one  or  other  branch  of  the  establishment  was 
stopped  for  some  time  or  entirely  and  when  this  work  is  neces- 
sary for  the  full  operation  of  the  other  branches  of  the  estab- 
lishment. 

21.  In  such  a  case  as  is  mentioned  in  the  last  paragraph  of 
Article  20  it  is  necessary  to  obtain  from  the  commissar  of  labor 
or  labor  inspector  a  special  permit  for  over-time  work;  and  in 
the  application  for  such  permit  the  daily  duration  of  such  work 
and  the  time  during  which  it  will  be  performed  must  be  indi- 
cated. About  over-time  work  specified  in  Clauses  (b)  and  (c)  of 
Article  20,  ordinary  notice  is  given. 

64 


22.  All  over-time  work  is  recorded  in  the  workmen's  account 
books  by  special  entry,  with  an  indication  of  the  pay  due  for 
it;  in  addition,  a  special  over-time  account  has  to  be  kept  in  the 
office  books  for  each  workman  separately. 

23.  Over-time  work  under  conditions  stated  in  Articles  19-22 
is  allowed  on  not  more  than  fifty  days  in  a  year  for  each  separate 
establishment,  and  each  day  of  over-time  work  in  a  branch  is 
counted  even  if  on  that  day  only  one  workman  did  over-time 
work  in  that  branch. 

24.  The  duration  of  over-time  work  of  each  individual  work- 
man must  in  no  case  exceed  four  hours  for  two  days  in  suc- 
cession. 

25.  For  some  time,  until  the  end  of  military  operations,  in 
the  establishments  working  for  defence,  the  rules  limiting  the 
duration  of  over-time  work  (Articles  19-24)  and  those  about 
recesses  during  the  work  (Articles  4-6)  may  be  suspended  by 
agreement  with  the  workmen  and  the  workmen's  organizations. 

26.  This  law  is  to  be  put  into  operation  by  telegraph  and 
becomes  effective  immediately.  For  its  violation  offenders  are 
liable  to  imprisonment  for  a  period  not  longer  than  one  year. 

In  the  name  of  the  Russian  Republic, 
For  the  Commissar  of  Labor: 
N.  Larin 
October  29,  1917 


Insurance  Law 

1.  The  Insurance  Council  is  instituted  under  the  People's 
Commissary  of  Labor  for  the  supervision  of  all  matters  relating 
to  the  insurance  of  workmen. 

2.  The  Insurance  Council  consists  of  twenty-four  members 
from  the  insured,  four  from  the  All-Russian  Central  Council  of 
Trade  Unions,  two  each  from  the  All-Russian  Central  Council  of 
factory  and  mill  committees  and  agricultural  laborers'  com- 
mittees, three  from  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor,  one 
from  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Justice,  eight  from  em- 
ployers, and  one  each  from  Zemstvo  and  municipal  self-govern- 
ments, from  physicians,  and  from  lawyers. 

3.  The  Insurance  Council  elects  from  its  number  a  chair- 
man, two  vice-chairmen,  and  two  secretaries. 

4.  The  members  of  the  Council  from  the  People's  Commis- 

65 


sariats  are  appointed  by  order  of  the  respective  People's  Com- 
missaries. 

5.  The  period  of  incumbency  of  the  elected  members  of  the 
Council  is  fixed  at  one  year. 

6.  The  members  of  the  Council  from  Zemstvo  and  municipal 
self-governments,  and  from  physicians  and  lawyers,  are  elected, 
respectively,  by  the  main  head  committees  of  the  All-Russian 
Zemstvo  Union  and  Union  of  Municipalities  by  the  directorate 
of  the  Society  of  Russian  Physicians  in  memory  of  N.  I.  Pirogov, 
and  by  the  All-Russian  Association  of  Lawyers. 

7.  The  members  of  the  Council  from  insurance  funds  are 
elected  in  accordance  with  the  rules  established  by  the  all- 
Russian  conventions  of  members  of  the  funds  assembled  in  ac- 
cordance with  Article  27  of  this  law. 

8.  The  members  of  the  Council  from  the  All-Russian  Trades 
Council  and  All-Russian  Central  Council  of  factory  and  mill 
committees  and  agricultural  laborers'  committees  are  elected  by 
the  respective  all-Russian  conventions. 

9.  The  members  of  the  Council  from  employers  are  elected  by 
the  central  employers'  associations  by  their  mutual  consent. 

10.  Persons  of  either  sex  may  be  elected  as  members  of  the 
Council  from  insurance  funds,  trade  unions,  factory,  mill,  and 
agricultural  laborers'  committees,  and  also  from  employers,  even 
if  they  are  not  members  of  insurance  funds,  trade  union,  factory, 
mill,  or  agricultural  laborers'  committees,  or  employers'  asso- 
ciations. 

11.  As  substitutes  for  the  members  of  the  Council  there  are 
elected  twelve  from  the  insured,  two  from  the  All-Russian  Cen- 
tral Council  of  Trade  Unions,  one  each  from  the  All-Russian 
Central  Council  of  the  factory,  mill,  and  agricultural  laborers' 
committees,  four  from  employers,  and  one  each  from  municipal 
and  Zemstvo  self-governments,  physicians,  and  lawyers,  accord- 
ing to  Articles  6,  7,  8,  and  9. 

The  substitution  of  members  is  made  in  the  order  of  the  ma- 
jority of  votes  received  in  the  election,  and,  in  case  of  an  equal 
number  of  votes,  by  drawing  lots.  The  substitutes  may  par- 
ticipate in  the  sessions  of  the  Council  even  if  the  membership 
is  complete,  but  in  the  latter  case  only  with  the  right  of  a  con- 
sulting voice. 

12.  The  members  of  the  Council  by  election  and  their  sub- 
stitutes, upon  the  expiration  of  the  time  of  their  incumbency, 
continue  to  perform  their  duties  until  new  elections.  Retiring 
members  may  be  reelected. 

66 


13.  Members  of  the  Council  receive,  for  their  participation  in 
the  labors  of  the  Council,  remuneration  from  the  funds  of  the 
state  treasury,  the  amount  of  which  is  fixed  by  the  statutes  of 
the  Council.  The  amount  of  remuneration  of  the  substitutes  is 
fixed  by  the  instructions  of  the  Council. 

14.  The  absence  of  members  of  the  Council  from  the  insur- 
ance funds,  trade  unions,  factory,  mill,  and  agricultural  laborers' 
committees,  from  work  or  office  at  the  time  when  they  are  en- 
gaged in  the  performance  of  the  duties  devolving  upon  them  as 
members  of  the  Council,  does  not  give  the  employer  the  right  to 
impose  upon  them  fines  for  absence  from  work  (Industrial  Labor 
law,  edition  of  1913,  articles  104  and  106)  or  to  demand  the 
cancellation  of  the  employment  contract. 

15.  To  the  sessions  of  the  Council  may  be  invited  persons 
from  whom  it  may  be  expected  that  useful  information  will  be 
obtained  about  the  matter  under  discussion.  When  considering 
matters  which  concern  the  jurisdiction  of  the  people's  commis- 
sariats which  have  no  representatives  on  the  Council,  such  per- 
sons are  invited  by  arrangement  with  the  respective  People's 
Commissar.  Invited  persons  enjoy  the  right  of  a  consulting 
voice. 

16.  The  direction  of  the  business  of  the  Insurance  Council 
devolves  upon  the  bureau  of  the  Council,  which  is  elected  by  the 
general  assembly  of  the  Council.  The  sessions  of  the  Council 
are  called  by  the  bureau  whenever  necessary.  Matters  are  sub- 
mitted for  the  consideration  of  the  Council  in  the  order  estab- 
lished by  the  bureau  of  the  Council.  Members  of  the  Council 
have  the  right  to  submit  through  the  bureau,  for  consideration 
by  the  Council,  questions  which  relate  to  matters  in  its  juris- 
diction. 

17.  The  Insurance  Council  has  jurisdiction  in  the  following 
cases: 

(a)  the  issuance,  within  the  limits  of  the  laws  in  force,  of 
regulations  and  instructions  concerning  all  kinds  of  workmen's 
insurance,  as  well  as  the  issuance  of  rules  establishing  the  order 
of  operation  of  local  insurance  institutions  in  charge  of  these 
matters ; 

(b)  the  examination  of  objections  which  may  arise  from  the 
application  by  the  local  insurance  institutions  of  the  laws  gov- 
erning questions  of  workmen's  insurance; 

(c)  the  annulment  of  the  decisions  of  insurance  boards  against 
which,  by  law,  appeals  may  be  taken  to  the  Council; 

67 


(d)  the  consideration  of  complaints  against  the  decisions  of 
the  insurance  boards  submitted  to  the  Insurance  Council; 

(e)  the  fixing  of  the  amount  of  remuneration  of  members  of 
the  insurance  boards  for  participation  in  the  labors  of  these 
boards ; 

(f)  the  issuance  of  rules  governing  the  accounting  of  insur- 
ance funds  and  other  insurance  institutions; 

(g)  the  establishment  of  a  general  rule  for  the  application  of 
the  insurance  laws  to  persons  who  work  in  cooperative  societies, 
artisans,  those  engaged  in  home  industries,  and  poor  peasants 
who  work  independently  without  employing  hired  labor; 

(h)  consideration  of  legislative  proposals  regarding  matters 
of  workmen's  insurance,  instructions  to  sections,  and  the  general 
assembly  of  the  Council; 

(i)  proposals  regarding  the  inspection  of  local  institutions  in 
charge  of  insurance,  and  also  the  inspection  of  insurance  funds 
and  other  insurance  institutions ; 

(j)  the  consideration  of  questions  having  relation  to  matters 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Council  and  submitted  by  the 
People's  Commissariat  of  Labor,  as  well  as  by  members  of  the 
Council  through  the  bureau  of  the  Council. 

The  Insurance  Council  has  jurisdiction  in  the  following  cases 
in  particular: 

I.  Regarding  workmen's  insurance  against  sickness: 

(a)  the  establishment  of  the  form  and  order  of  furnishing 
proper  information  by  employers,  as  well  as  the  keeping  of  books 
and  records  containing  this  information,  and  the  order  of  their 
submission  for  examination; 

♦  (b)  the  fixing  of  time  limits  for  the  establishment  of  hospital 
funds ; 

(c)  the  issuance  of  regulations  governing  the  equipment  and 
maintenance  of  medical  institutions  for  members  of  hospital 
funds,  as  well  as  the  extent  of  medical  aid  in  all  its  forms ; 

(d)  the  establishment  of  the  order  and  general  basis  of  ren- 
dering medical  aid  to  members  of  hospital  funds; 

(e)  the  establishment  of  the  forms  of  medical  reports  of  in- 
stitutions which  treat  members  of  hospital  funds; 

(f)  the  establishment  of  the  form  of  annual  reports  about 
the  employment  of  hospital  funds. 

II.  Regarding  workmen's  insurance  against  accidents: 

(a)  the  establishment  of  the  form  of  certificate  attesting  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  accident  occurred; 

68 


(b)  the  establishment  of  time  limits  for  the  issuance  to  pen- 
sioners of  certificates  necessary  for  receiving  a  pension; 

(c)  the  establishment  of  the  form  of  pension  books  and  rules 
governing  their  issuance; 

(d)  the  establishment  of  regulations  and  the  time  limit  for 
the  delivery  of  information  about  the  nature  of  an  enterprise 
and  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  it; 

(e)  the  approval  of  tables  for  reckoning  the  capitalized  cost 
of  pensions; 

(f )  the  consideration  of  the  basis  for  calculating  the  propor- 
tions of  the  insurance  contributions  of  employers; 

(g)  the  establishment  and  determination  of  the  classes  of 
dangerous  occupations; 

(h)  the  selection  of  the  forms  of  statistical  reports  about 
accidents. 

III.     Regarding  workmen's  insurance  against  unemployment: 

(a)  the  fixing  of  the  amount  of  the  contribution  of  employers 
to  the  unemployment  fund  in  its  ratio  to  wages; 

(b)  the  establishment  of  rules  of  deposit,  keeping,  and  dis- 
bursement of  the  all-Russian  unemployment  fund; 

(c)  the  establishment  of  the  form  of  the  order  on  which  em- 
ployers shall  furnish  necessary  information; 

(d)  the  examination  of  complaints  against  the  decisions  of 
insurance  boards. 

19.  The  Insurance  Council  transacts  its  business  in  general 
sessions  and  in  separate  sections  of  the  Council. 

20.  Separate  sections  are  established  by  the  Council  for  the 
consideration  of  questions  and  business  (a)  of  insurance  against 
sickness,  (b)  accident  insurance,  (c)  unemployment  insurance, 
(d)  old  age  insurance,  etc. 

21.  The  personnel  of  the  sections,  the  order  of  their  election, 
and  the  apportionment  of  business  among  the  sections  is  deter- 
mined by  the  Council  in  special  instructions  for  each  section. 

22.  The  decisions  of  the  Council  are  final.  The  People's  Com- 
missar of  Labor  is  given  the  right  of  vetoing  the  decisions  of 
the  Council. 

23.  The  general  assembly  of  the  Council  may  order  the  for- 
mation of  committees  to  carry  out  special  missions  of  the  Council 
or  sections,  and  persons  who  are  not  members  of  the  Council 
.may  be  included  in  those  committees. 

69 


24.  When  the  inspection  is  being  made,  as  stipulated  in 
Clause  (i)  of  Article  17  of  this  law,  institutions  and  persons  are 
obliged  to  produce  all  books,  accounts,  and  records  which  have 
reference  to  the  object  of  the  inspection. 

25.  The  rules  of  procedure  in  the  general  assembly,  sections, 
and  committees,  as  well  as  in  the  bureau  of  the  Council,  are 
determined  by  instructions  formulated  by  the  Council. 

26.  The  decisions  of  the  Council  are  published  in  a  special 
collection  which  is  sent  free  to  local  insurance  institutions  and 
insurance  organizations,  as  well  as  governmental  and  public 
institutions  and  organizations,  at  the  discretion  of  the  bureau 
of  the  Council.  Decisions  having  a  binding  character  are  pub- 
lished for  general  information  in  the  central  organ  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

27.  For  the  consideration  of  the  most  important  measures  of 
a  general  character  which  relate  to  workmen's  insurance,  all- 
Russian  and  regional  conventions  of  insured  are  called  annually. 

Note:  The  order  of  elections  to  the  conventions  is  determined 
by  local  workmen's  insurance  organizations. 

28.  The  business  of  the  Insurance  Council  is  to  be  transacted 
by  the  department  of  social  insurance  of  the  People's  Commis- 
sariat of  Labor,  under  the  direction  of  the  bureau  of  the  Council. 

29.  Until  the  election  of  the  members  of  the  Insurance  Coun- 
cil from  members  of  insurance  funds  in  the  way  provided  by 
Article  7  of  this  law,  the  above  members  of  the  Council  are 
elected  at  the  Petrograd  Workmen's  Insurance  Conference  on 
the  basis  of  one  delegate  to  1,000  workmen. 

The  members  of  the  Insurance  Council  from  employers,  until 
their  election  in  the  way  indicated  in  Article  9  of  this  law,  are 
elected  by  the  Petrograd  Association  of  Manufacturers. 

Complaints  against  election  errors  are  lodged  with  the  Peo- 
ple's Commissariat  of  Labor. 

People's  Commissar  of  Labor, 

A.  Shliapnikov 
Director  of  the  Department  of  Social  Insurance, 

A.  Vinokurov 
Secretary  of  the  Department, 

A.  Poderin 
November  29,  1917 

70 


The  Administration  of  National 
Undertakings 

Part  I. 

1.  The  Central  Administration  of  Nationalized  Undertak- 
ings, of  whatever  branch  of  industry,  assigns  for  each  large 
nationalized  undertaking  technical  and  administrative  directors, 
in  whose  hands  are  placed  the  actual  administration  and  direc- 
tion of  the  entire  activity  of  the  undertaking.  They  are  respon- 
sible to  the  Central  Administration  and  the  Commissar  ap- 
pointed by  it. 

2.  The  technical  director  appoints  technical  employees  and 
gives  all  orders  regarding  the  technical  administration  of  the 
undertaking.  The  factory  committee  may,  however,  complain 
regarding  these  appointments  and  orders  to  the  Commissar 
of  the  Central  Administration,  and  then  to  the  Central  Admin- 
istration itself;  but  only  the  Commissar  and  Central  Adminis- 
tration may  stop  the  appointments  and  order  of  the  technical 
director. 

3.  In  connection  with  the  Administrative  Director  there  is  an 
Economic  Administrative  Council,  consisting  of  delegates  from 
laborers,  employees,  and  engineers  of  the  undertaking.  The 
Council  examines  the  estimates  of  the  undertaking,  the  plan  of 
its  works,  the  rules  of  internal  distribution,  complaints,  the 
material  and  moral  conditions  of  the  work  and  life  of  the  work- 
men and  employees,  and  likewise  all  questions  regarding  the 
progress  of  the  undertaking. 

4.  On  questions  of  a  technical  character  relating  to  the  enter- 
prise the  Council  has  only  a  consultative  voice,  but  on  other 
questions  a  decisive  voice,  on  condition,  however,  that  the  Ad- 
ministrative Director  appointed  by  the  Central  Administration 
has  the  right  to  appeal  from  the  orders  of  the  Council  to  the 
Commissioner  of  the  Central  Administration. 

5.  The  duty  of  acting  upon  decisions  of  the  Economic  Admin- 
istrative Council  belongs  to  the  Administrative  Director. 

6.  The  Council  of  the  enterprise  has  the  right  to  make  repre- 
sentation to  the  Central  Administration  regarding  a  change  of 
the  directors  of  the  enterprise,  and  to  present  its  own  candidates. 

7.  Depending  on  the  size  and  importance  of  the  enterprise, 
the  Central  Administration  may  appoint  several  technical  and 
administrative  directors. 

71 


8.  The  composition  of  the  Economic  Administrative  Council 
of  the  enterprise  consists  of  (a)  a  representative  of  the  work- 
men of  the  undertaking;  (b)  a  representative  of  the  other  em- 
ployees; (c)  a  representative  of  the  highest  technical  and  com- 
mercial personnel;  (d)  the  directors  of  the  undertaking,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Central  Administration;  (e)  representatives  of 
the  local  or  regional  council  of  professional  unions,  of  the  peo- 
ple's economic  council,  of  the  council  of  workmen's  deputies,  and 
of  the  professional  council  of  that  branch  of  industry  to  which 
the  given  enterprise  belongs;  (f)  a  representative  of  the  work- 
men's cooperative  council;  and  (g)  a  representative  of  the  Soviet 
of  peasants'  deputies  of  the  corresponding  region. 

9.  In  the  composition  of  the  Economic  Administrative  Council 
of  the  enterprise,  representatives  of  workmen  and  other  em- 
ployees, as  mentioned  under  (a)  and  (b)  of  Article  8,  may 
furnish  only  half  of  the  number  of  members. 

10.  The  workmen's  control  of  nationalized  undertakings  is 
attained  by  leaving  all  declarations  and  orders  of  the  factory 
committee,  or  of  the  controlling  commission,  to  the  judgment 
and  decision  of  the  Economic  Administrative  Council  of  the 
enterprise. 

11.  The  workmen,  employees,  and  highest  technical  and  com- 
mercial personnel  of  nationalized  undertakings  are  in  duty 
bound  before  the  Russian  Soviet  Republic  to  observe  strict  in- 
dustrial discipline,  and  to  carry  out  conscientiously  and  accu- 
rately the  work  assigned  to  them.  To  the  Economic  Adminis- 
trative Council  are  given  judicial  powers,  including  that  of  dis- 
missal without  notice  for  longer  or  shorter  periods,  together 
with  the  declaration  of  a  boycott  for  non-proletariat  recognition 
of  their  rights  and  duties. 

12.  In  the  case  of  those  industrial  branches  for  which  central 
administrations  have  not  yet  been  formed,  all  their  rights  are 
vested  in  provincial  councils  of  national  economy,  and  in  corre- 
sponding industrial  sections  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  National 
Economy. 

13.  The  estimates  and  plan  of  work  of  a  nationalized  under- 
taking must  be  presented  by  its  Economic  Administrative  Coun- 
cil to  the  central  administration  of  a  given  industrial  branch  at 
least  as  often  as  once  in  three  months,  through  the  provincial 
organizations,  where  such  have  been  established. 

14.  The  management  of  nationalized  undertakings,  where 
such  management  has  heretofore  been  organized  on  other  prin- 

72 


ciples  because  of  the  absence  of  a  general  plan  and  general  or- 
ders for  the  whole  of  Russia,  must  now  be  reorganized,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  present  regulation,  within  the  next  three  months 
[i.  e.,  by  the  end  of  May,  new  style]. 

15.  For  the  consideration  of  the  declarations  of  the  Economic 
Administrative  Council  concerning  the  activity  of  the  directors 
of  the  undertaking  at  the  central  administration  of  a  given 
branch  of  industry,  a  special  section  is  established,  composed 
one-third  of  representatives  of  general  governmental,  political, 
and  economic  institutions  of  the  proletariat,  one-third  of  repre- 
sentatives of  workmen  and  other  employees  of  the  given  indus- 
trial branch,  and  one-third  of  representatives  of  the  directing, 
technical,  and  commercial  personnel  and  its  professional  or- 
ganizations. 

16.  The  present  order  must  be  posted  on  the  premises  of  each 
nationalized   undertaking. 

Note:  Small  nationalized  enterprises  are  managed  on  similar 
principles,  with  the  proviso  that  the  duties  of  technical  and  ad- 
ministrative directors  may  be  combined  in  one  person,  and  the 
numerical  strength  of  the  Economic  Administrative  Council  may 
be  cut  down  by  the  omission  of  representatives  of  one  or  another 
institution  or  organization. 

Part  II. 

17.  A  Central  Administration  [Principal  Committee]  for 
each  nationalized  branch  of  industry  is  to  be  established  in  con- 
nection with  the  Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy,  to 
be  composed  one-third  of  representatives  of  workmen  and  em- 
ployees of  a  given  industrial  branch;  one-third  of  representa- 
tives of  the  general  proletariat,  general  governmental,  political, 
and  economic  organizations  and  institutions  (Supreme  Council 
of  National  Economy,  the  People's  Commissars,  All-Russian 
Council  of  Professional  Unions,  All-Russian  Council  of  Work- 
men's Cooperative  Unions,  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Councils  of  Workmen's  Delegates)  and  one-third  of  representa- 
tives of  scientific  bodies,  of  the  supreme  technical  and  commer- 
cial personnel,  and  of  democratic  organizations  of  all  Russia 
(Council  of  the  Congresses  of  All  Russia,  cooperative  unions  of 
consumers,  councils  of  peasants'  deputies). 

18.  The  Central  Administration  selects  its  bureau,  for  which 
all  orders  of  the  Central  Administration  are  obligatory,  which 
conducts  the  current  work  and  carries  into  effect  the  general 
plans  for  the  undertaking. 

19.  The    Central    Administration    organizes    provincial    and 

73 


local  administrations  of  a  given  industrial  branch,  on  principles 
similar  to  those  on  which  its  own  organization  is  based. 

20.  The  rights  and  duties  of  each  Central  Administration 
are  indicated  in  the  order  concerning  the  establishment  of  each 
of  them,  but  in  each  case  each  Central  Administration  unites  in 
its  own  hands  (a)  the  management  of  the  enterprises  of  a  given 
industrial  branch,  (b)  their  financing,  (c)  their  technical  unifi- 
cation or  reconstruction,  (d)  standardization  of  the  working 
conditions  of  the  given  industrial  branch. 

21.  All  orders  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy 
are  obligatory  for  each  Central  Administration;  the  Central 
Administration  comes  into  contact  with  the  Supreme  Council,  as 
represented  by  the  bureau  of  productive  organization  of  the 
Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy,  through  the  correspond- 
ing productive  sections. 

22.  When  the  Central  Administration  for  any  industrial 
branch  which  has  not  yet  been  nationalized  is  organized,  it  has 
the  right  to  sequestrate  the  enterprises  of  the  given  branch,  and 
equally,  without  sequestration,  to  prevent  its  managers  com- 
pletely or  in  part  from  engaging  in  its  administration,  appoint 
commissioners,  give  orders,  which  are  obligatory,  to  the  owners 
of  non-nationalized  enterprises,  and  incur  expenses  on  account  of 
these  enterprises  for  measures  which  the  Central  Administration 
may  consider  necessary;  and  likewise  to  combine  into  a  tech- 
nical whole  separate  enterprises  or  parts  of  the  same,  to  trans- 
fer from  some  enterprises  to  others  fuel  and  customers'  orders, 
and  establish  prices  upon  articles  of  production  and  commerce. 

23.  The  Central  Administration  controls  imports  and  exports 
of  corresponding  goods  for  a  period  which  it  determines,  for 
which  purpose  it  forms  a  part  of  the  general  governmental  or- 
ganizations of  external  commerce. 

24.  The  Central  Administration  has  the  right  to  concentrate 
in  its  hands  and  in  institutions  established  by  it,  both  the  entire 
preparation  of  articles  necessary  for  a  given  branch  of  industry 
(raw  material,  machinery,  etc.),  and  the  disposal  to  enterprises 
subject  to  it  of  all  products  and  acceptance  of  orders  for  them. 

Part  III. 

25.  Upon  the  introduction  of  nationalization  into  any  indus- 
trial branch,  or  into  any  individual  enterprise,  the  correspond- 
ing Central  Administration  (or  the  temporary  Central  Adminis- 
tration appointed  with  its  rights)  takes  under  its  management 

74 


the  nationalized  enterprises,  each  separately,  and  preserves  the 
large  ones  as  separate  administrative  units,  annexing  to  them 
the  smaller  ones. 

26.  Until  the  nationalized  enterprises  have  been  taken  over 
by  the  Central  Administration  (or  principal  commissary),  all 
former  managers  or  directorates  must  continue  their  work  in  its 
entirety  in  the  usual  manner,  and  under  the  supervision  of  the 
corresponding  commissioner  (if  one  has  been  appointed),  taking 
all  measures  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  national 
property  and  for  the  continuous  course  of  operations. 

27.  The  Central  Administration  and  its  organs  establish  new 
managements  and  technical  administrative  directorates  of  enter- 
prises. 

28.  Technical  administrative  directorates  of  nationalized 
enterprises  are  organized  according  to  Part  I  of  this  decree. 

29.  The  management  of  a  large  undertaking,  treated  as  a 
separate  administrative  unit,  is  organized  with  a  view  to  secur- 
ing, in  as  large  a  measure  as  possible,  the  utilization  of  the 
technical  and  commercial  experience  accumulated  by  the  under- 
taking; for  which  purpose  there  are  included  in  the  composition 
of  the  new  management  not  only  representatives  of  the  laborers 
and  employees  of  the  enterprise  (to  the  number  of  one-third  of 
the  general  numerical  strength  of  the  management)  and  of  the 
Central  Administration  itself  (to  the  number  of  one-third  or 
less  as  the  Central  Administration  shall  see  fit) ,  but  also,  as  far 
as  possible,  members  of  former  managements,  excepting  persons 
specially  removed  by  the  Central  Administration,  and,  upon  their 
refusal,  representatives  of  any  special  competent  organizations, 
even  if  they  are  not  proletariat  (to  a  number  not  exceeding  one- 
third  of  the  general  membership  of  the  management). 

30.  When  nationalization  is  introduced,  whether  of  the  entire 
branch  of  the  industry  or  of  separate  enterprises,  the  Central 
Administrations  are  permitted,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  change, 
to  pay  to  the  highest  technical  and  commercial  personnel  their 
present  salaries,  and  even,  in  case  of  refusal  on  their  part  to 
work  and  the  impossibility  of  filling  their  places  with  other  per- 
sons, to  introduce  for  their  benefit  obligatory  work  and  to  bring 
suit  against  them. 

31.  The  former  management  of  each  nationalized  undertak- 
ing must  prepare  a  report  for  the  last  year  of  operation  and  an 
inventory  of  the  undertaking,  in  accordance  with  which  inven- 
tory the  new  management  verifies  the  properties  taken  over. 

75 


The  actual  taking  over  of  the  enterprise  is  done  by  the  new 
management  immediately  upon  its  confirmation  by  the  principal 
committee,  without  waiting  for  the  presentation  of  the  inven- 
tory and  report. 

32.  Upon  receipt  in  their  locality  of  notice  of  the  nationali- 
zation of  an  enterprise,  and  until  the  organization  of  the  man- 
agement and  its  administration  by  the  Central  Administration 
(or  the  principal  commissary,  or  institution  having  the  rights 
of  the  principal  commissary)  the  workmen  and  employees  of 
the  given  enterprise,  and,  if  possible,  also  the  Council  of  Work- 
men's Deputies,  the  Council  of  National  Economy,  and  Council 
of  Professional  Unions,  select  temporary  commissars,  under 
whose  supervision  and  observation  (and,  if  necessary,  under 
whose  management)  the  activity  of  the  undertaking  continues. 
The  workmen  and  employees  of  the  given  enterprise,  and  the 
regional  councils  of  national  economy,  of  professional  unions, 
and  of  workmen's  delegates  have  the  right  also  to  organize  tem- 
porary managements  and  directorates  of  nationalized  enter- 
prises until  the  same  are  completely  established  by  the  Central 
Administration. 

33.  If  the  initiative  for  the  nationalization  of  a  given  enter- 
prise comes,  not  from  the  general  governmental  and  proletariat 
organs  authorized  for  that  purpose,  but  from  the  workmen  of 
a  given  enterprise  or  from  some  local  or  regional  organization, 
then  they  propose  to  the  Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy, 
as  represented  by  its  bureau  of  productive  organization,  that 
the  necessary  steps  be  undertaken  through  the  proper  produc- 
tion sections,  according  to  the  decree  of  February  28  regarding 
the  method  of  confiscating  enterprises. 

34.  In  exceptional  cases  local  labor  organizations  are  given 
the  right  to  take  temporarily  under  their  management  the  given 
enterprise,  if  circumstances  do  not  permit  of  awaiting  the  de- 
cision of  the  question  in  the  regular  order,  but  on  condition  that 
such  action  be  immediately  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  nearest 
provincial  council  of  national  economy,  which  then  puts  a  tem- 
porary sequestration  upon  the  enterprise  pending  the  complete 
solution  of  the  question  of  nationalization  by  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  National  Economy;  or,  if  it  shall  consider  the  reasons 
insufficient  or  nationalization  clearly  inexpedient,  or  a  prolonged 
sequestration  unnecessary,  it  directs  a  temporary  sequestration 
or  even  directly  reestablishes  the  former  management  of  the 
enterprise  under  its  supervision,  or  introduces  into  the  compo- 

76 


sition  of  the  management  representatives  of  labor  organizations. 
35.  The  present  order  must  be  furnished  by  the  professional 
unions  of  all  Russia  to  all  their  local  divisions,  and  by  the  coun- 
cils of  factory  committees  to  all  factory  committees,  and  must 
be  published  in  full  in  the  Izvestia  of  all  provincial  councils  of 
workmen's  and  peasants'  deputies. 

For  the  Bureau  of  Organization  of  Production 
of  the  Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy: 
V.  Larin 
Superintendent: 

Sheverdin 
March  7,  1918 


Price  Committees 

1.  Although  the  shops  in  the  large  cities  have  not  received 
any  goods  during  the  last  few  months,  and  all  the  articles  in 
them  were  purchased  earlier  by  the  proprietors  at  comparatively 
low  prices,  nevertheless  at  the  present  time  the  proprietors  de- 
mand for  these  goods  prices  much  higher  than  those  which  pre- 
vailed four  months  ago.  Accordingly,  an  examination  of  all 
books  of  all  shops  in  all  cities  and  settlements  with  a  popula- 
tion of  not  less  than  10,000  is  ordered. 

2.  In  view  of  the  obvious  necessity  of  control  over  the  fixing 
of  prices,  committees  on  prices  are  created  for  every  class  of 
commercial  establishment  (dry-goods,  haberdashery,  hardware, 
groceries,  etc.) 

3.  The  determination  of  those  branches  of  commerce  for  each 
of  which  a  special  committee  on  prices  is  created  is  left  to  a 
commission  of  representatives  of  the  local  Soviet  of  Workmen's 
Deputies,  the  city  council,  and  the  union  of  commercial-indus- 
trial employees  in  equal  numbers  (three  each  from  those  or- 
ganizations). 

4.  The  same  commission  determines  which  commercial  estab- 
lishments are  within  the  jurisdiction  of  each  committee  on 
prices. 

5.  Committees  on  prices,  in  accordance  with  this  ordinance, 
are  to  be  created  without  fail  in  every  city  and  settlement  witn 
a  population  of  not  less  than  10,000. 

6.  The  members  of  the  committee  on  prices  comprise  two 
representatives  of  the   respective  section  of  commercial-indus- 

77 


trial  employees,  two  representatives  of  consumers'  leagues,  two 
representatives  of  proprietors  of  the  respective  commercial 
establishments,  one  statistician,  and  one  book-keeper,  chosen  by 
the  local  Soviet  of  Workmen's  Deputies. 

7.  The  committee  on  prices  controls  a  given  branch  of  com- 
merce in  its  entirety  and  directs  it  on  the  following  principles: 

(a)  the  verification  of  the  disbursements  of  the  commercial 
establishment  for  the  acquisition,  keeping,  and  organization  of 
the  sale  of  goods,  and  additional  expenses  connected  with  the 
conduct  of  the  business; 

(b)  the  determination,  on  this  basis,  of  the  normal  average 
price  of  each  product  for  a  given  city; 

(c)  the  fixing  of  an  average  amount  of  profit; 

(d)  the  apportionment  of  the  profit  among  all  the  shops,  with 
the  right  of  taking  as  a  whole  all  disbursements  and  all  incomes 
of  all  shops  of  a  given  branch  of  commerce  in  a  given  city,  but 
so  calculated  that  all  proprietors  who  are  personally  engaged  in 
their  business,  and  their  families,  shall  be  secured  at  least  a 
suitable  maintenance. 

8.  The  committee  on  prices  controls  the  sources  of  supply  of 
shops  for  articles  in  which  they  deal,  and  takes  measures  for 
the  uninterrupted  delivery  to  the  shops  of  those  articles  in 
proper  quantities,  and  in  extreme  cases,  at  the  expense  of  the 
proprietors,  making  necessary  expenditures  and  organizing  the 
temporary  management  of  those  shops  whose  proprietors  cease 
trading  or  who  maliciously  do  not  take  proper  measures  for 
securing  the  supply  of  goods  for  the  shop,  or  who  violate  the 
rules  of  the  committee. 

9.  For  the  unification  of  the  supply  of  goods  to  shops,  the 
committee  on  prices  assumes  the  duty  of  a  purchasing  centre 
which  supplies  all  stores  under  its  control;  while  the  propri- 
etors, for  that  purpose,  place  at  its  disposal  all  their  connections, 
knowledge,-  and  technical  and  administrative  apparatus,  and 
supply  such  funds  as  they  ordinarily  disburse  for  supplying 
their  shops  with  goods.  The  committee  on  prices  has  the  right 
to  organize  purchasing  centres,  and  may  increase,  in  case  of 
necessity,  the  representation  of  the  proprietors  of  shops  on  the 
committee  to  four  members  instead  of  two. 

10.  The  committee  on  prices  sees  to  it  that  the  shops  under 
its  control  carry  out  all  regulations  of  the  authorities  regarding 
the  distribution  of  products  among  the  population,  whether  by 
cards  or  on  some  other  basis.. 

78 


11.  The  committee  on  prices  of  each  city  elects  representa- 
tives to  the  all-city  committee  on  prices,  which  coordinates  the 
activity  of  separate  committees  under  the  direction  of  the  cen- 
tral, regional,  and  local  boards  of  national  economy,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  regulations. 

12.  For  the  expense  connected  with  the  business  of  the  com- 
mittees on  prices  and  the  maintenance  of  their  personnel,  a  de- 
duction from  the  profits  of  the  commercial  establishments  under 
their  control  is  made  in  suitable  proportions  and  by  their  order. 

13.  Executive  authority  for  carrying  out  this  ordinance  in 
each  city,  including  the  formation  of  a  commission  provided  for 
in  Clause  3,  is  given  to  local  trade  unions  of  commercial-in- 
dustrial employees,  and,  in  case  of  the  absence  of  such,  to  the 
local  Soviet  of  Workmen's  Deputies;  or,  in  the  absence  of  such 
Soviet,  to  the  city  council,  or,  in  case  of  the  absence  of  such  city 
council,  to  the  local  consumers'  leagues. 

14.  This  ordinance  shall  be  put  into  effect  not  later  than  the 
month  of  February.  Persons  guilty  of  violating  it  are  liable  to 
imprisonment  for  a  period  not  longer  than  one  year,  and  to  a 
fine  at  the  discretion  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 

Committee  on  Prices  of  the  Supreme  Council  of 
National  Economy: 

V.  Smirnov 
N.  Larin 
January  30,  1918 


The   Supply   of   Agricultural  Implements 

To  factory  and  mill  committees  and  representatives  of  manufac- 
turing enterprises. 
T^HE  Supreme  Board  of  National  Economy  has  now  under- 
-■■  taken  the  organization  of  the  entire  business  of  supplying 
the  agricultural  population  with  agricultural  machinery  and  im- 
plements. In  order  that  all  this  work  may  be  carried  out  suc- 
cessfully, it  is  necessary  that  the  Supreme  Board  of  National 
Economy  should  have  at  its  disposal  exact  information  about  all 
those  establishments  which  at  this  moment  have  already  changed 
or  are  ready  to  change  to  the  production  of  agricultural  ma- 
chinery. Only  with  all  this  information  at  hand  will  it  be  pos- 
sible to  organize  systematically  this  branch  of  national  economy, 
which  is  most  important  for  the  Russian  Republic,  and  to  avoid 

79 


in  the  future  those  ills  which  may  be  caused  by  an  unorganized 
change  from  war  production  to  peace  work.  Moreover,  all  the 
information  is  necessary  for  the  apportionment  of  orders  for 
agricultural  machines  and  implements,  which  the  Supreme  Board 
of  National  Economy  will  soon  place. 

In  view  of  what  has  been  said,  we  urgently  request  all  factory 
and  mill  committees  and  manufacturers,  or  their  organizations, 
to  furnish  in  writing  the  most  complete  information  about  their 
establishments  which  have  to  do  with  the  manufacture  of  agri- 
cultural machinery,  indicating  the  number  of  workmen,  the  ma- 
chine equipment,  and  the  possible  minimum  production  per 
month,  together  with  a  statement  of  the  machines  and  imple- 
ments (type  and  patent),  necessary  in  rural  economy,  for  which 
they  can  take  orders. 

In  view  of  the  exceptional  importance  of  the  matter  of  supply- 
ing our  rural  economy,  we  respectfully  request  the  provincial 
papers  to  reprint  this  appeal. 

The   Supreme   Council   of  National   Economy. 


Orders    of    the    Peopled    Commissar    of 

Education  of  the  Western  Provinces 

and  Front 

THE  following  orders  are  selected  from  a  group  of  six 
educational  documents  published  at  Petrograd,  March 
10,  1918.  The  omitted  orders,  Nos.  3-5,  relate  to  the  budget 
for  1919  and  to  routine  matters. 

No.l 

To  all  primary  and  secondary  educational  institutions  of  the 
western  provinces. 

I  propose  to  the  administration  of  all  the  above-mentioned 
educational  institutions,  from  the  date  of  the  publication  of  this 
order,  not  to  discharge  students  for  non-payment  of  dues.  As 
to  those  who  have  already  been  discharged  before  this  order 
was  published,  they  must  immediately  be  reinstated. 

I  propose  to  all  departments  of  public  education  in  local 
Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies,  to  at- 

80 


tend  strictly  to  the  carrying  out  of  my  order.  The  question  of 
the  legal  position  of  students  who  have  not  paid  their  school 
dues  will  be  explained  in  the  near  future. 

No  special  notification  will  be  given  to  each  educational  insti- 
tution, and  the  present  order  becomes  the  law  of  the  land  from 
the  date  of  its  publication  in  the  newspaper  Sovietskaya  Pravda 
[Soviet  Truth']. 

No.  2 

Having  in  mind  to  afford  to  the  large  popular  masses  access 
to  books,  the  Commissariat  of  Public  Education  will  shortly 
proceed  to  regulate  the  library  business  and  its  reorganization 
on  new  principles.     In  view  of  this  the  Commissar  directs  that: 

I.  All  libraries  found  within  the  boundaries  of  the  western 
provinces  and  front,  and  belonging  to  municipalities,  public  in- 
stitutions, or  organizations  of  various  sorts,  or  to  private  per- 
sons, are  taken  over  for  the  benefit  of  public  educational  insti- 
tutions in  local  Soviets  of  Workmen's,  Soldiers',  and  Peasants' 
Deputies,  and,  in  the  city  of  Smolensk,  by  the  local  section  of 
public  education  of  the  provincial  commissariat. 

II.  All  institutions,  organizations,  and  private  persons  pos- 
sessing libraries  in  the  city  of  Smolensk  must,  within  five  days 
following  the  date  of  the  publication  of  this  order  in  the  news- 
paper Sovietskaya  Pravda,  present  to  the  Commissariat  of  Public 
Education  exact  information  concerning: 

(1)  the  location  of  the  libraries  belonging  to  them; 

(2)  the  number  of  volumes  found  in  the  libraries; 

(3)  the  contents  of  the  libraries  (complete  catalogues  of  the 
books  must  be  presented,  and  in  case  such  do  not  exist,  then 
general  information  concerning  the  character  of  the  books  col- 
lected) ; 

(4)  the  periodical  publications  subscribed  to  by  the  libraries; 

(5)  the  number  of  subscribers; 

(6)  the  rules  adopted  for  the  use  of  these  books. 

Note:  This  order  does  not  affect  persons  who  have  libraries 
consisting  of  less  than  500  volumes,  if  these  libraries  are  not 
intended  for  public  readers. 

III.  In  case  reading-rooms  are  found  at  such  libraries,  it  is 
necessary  to  indicate: 

(1)  the  list  of  periodical  publications  found  in  the  reading- 
room  ; 

(2)  statistical  data,  if  such  are  at  hand,  regarding  the  read- 
ing-room visitors. 

IV.  Institutions,  organizations,  and  private  persons  possess- 

81 


ing  libraries  outside  the  boundaries  of  the  city  of  Smolensk  and 
of  the  Government  of  Smolensk  must  present  the  information 
indicated  above,  within  a  week  from  the  date  of  the  publication 
of  this  order,  to  the  proper  section  of  local  Soviets  of  Work- 
men's, Soldiers',  and  Peasants'  Deputies.  The  latter,  upon  re- 
ceipt of  the  data,  must  furnish  copies  of  the  same  to  the  Com- 
missar of  Public  Education  of  the  western  provinces  and  front. 

V.  Those  who  fail  to  comply  with  this  order  will  be  turned 
over  to  the  Military  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 

No.  6 

It  is  the  duty  of  all  owners  of  moving-picture  houses  in  the 
city  of  Smolensk,  from  the  date  of  the  publication  of  this  order 
in  the  newspaper  Sovietskaya  Pravda,  to  present  for  approval 
to  the  provincial  Commissariat  of  Public  Education  the  pro- 
grammes and  librettos  of  the  pictures  proposed  to  be  exhibited 
by  them. 

It  is  forbidden  to  show  pictures  not  approved  by  the  Com- 
missariat. 

In  those  cases  in  which  the  Commissariat  shall  find  it  neces- 
sary the  pictures,  before  being  shown  to  the  public,  must  be 
shown  for  examination  to  persons  specially  designated  by  the 
Commissariat. 

Moving-picture  enterprises  not  complying  with  this  order  will 
be  at  once  confiscated. 

The  Commissar  of  Public  Education  of  the  Western 
Provinces  and  Front: 

PlKEL 


Abolition  of  Inheritance 

I.  Inheritance,  whether  by  law  or  by  will,  is  abolished.  After 
the  death  of  an  owner,  the  property  which  belonged  to  him, 
whether  movable  or  immovable,  becomes  the  property  of  the 
Government  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Republic. 

Note:  The  discontinuance  and  transfer  of  rights  of  utiliza- 
tion of  farm  lands  is  determined  by  the  rules  provided  in  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  socialization  of  the  land. 

II.  Until  the  issuance  of  a  decree  dealing  with  general  social 
arrangements,  relatives  who  are  in  need  (i.  e.,  those  who  do  not 
possess  a  minimum  maintenance),  and  who  are  incapable  of 
work — such  relatives  being  in  a  directly  ascending  or  descending 
line,  full  or  half-brothers  or  sisters,  or  spouse,  of  the  deceased — 
receive  support  from  the  property  left  by  the  deceased. 

82 


Note  1 :  No  distinction  is  made  between  the  relationship  that 
arises  within  wedlock  and  that  which  arises  outside  of  wedlock. 

Note  2:  Adopted  relatives  or  children  and  their  descendants 
are  put  upon  the  same  footing  as  relatives  by  descent  whether 
as  to  those  who  adopted  them  or  as  to  those  who  have  been 
adopted. 

III.  If  there  is  not  enough  of  the  property  remaining  to  sup- 
port a  spouse  and  all  surviving  relatives,  as  enumerated  above, 
then  the  most  needy  of  them  must  be  provided  for  first. 

IV.  The  amount  of  allowance  to  be  given  a  spouse  and  sur- 
viving relatives  from  the  property  of  the  deceased  is  determined 
by  the  institution  conducting  the  affairs  of  social  security  in  the 
Governments,  and  in  Moscow  and  Petrograd  by  the  municipal 
Soviets  of  Workmen's  and  Peasants'  Deputies,  in  agreement 
with  the  persons  who  have  the  right  to  receive  the  allowance, 
and,  in  case  of  dispute  between  them,  by  the  local  court,  accord- 
ing to  the  usual  legal  procedure.  Cases  of  this  sort  are  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Soviets  of  Workmen's  and  Peasants' 
Deputies  and  the  local  courts  of  the  last  place  of  residence  of 
the  deceased. 

V.  All  property  of  the  deceased,  other  than  that  enumerated 
in  Article  IX  of  this  decree,  comes  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
local  Soviet,  which  turns  it  over  to  the  bureaus  or  institutions 
having  control  in  those  localities  of  similar  property  of  the 
Russian  Republic,  according  to  the  last  place  of  residence  of  the 
deceased  or  according  to  the  place  where  the  property  is  situ- 
ated. 

VI.  The  local  Soviet  publishes,  for  the  purpose  of  general 
notification,  the  death  of  the  property  owner,  and  calls  upon  the 
persons  who  have  a  right  to  receive  support  from  the  said  prop- 
erty to  appear  within  a  year  from  the  date  of  the  publication. 

VII.  Those  who  do  not  declare  their  claims  before  the  expira- 
tion of  the  year  following  the  publication,  as  provided  in  the  above 
article,  lose  their  right  to  receive  support  from  the  property 
of  the  deceased. 

VIII.  From  the  property  of  the  deceased  are  paid,  first,  the 
expenses  of  the  administration  of  the  property.  The  relatives 
and  spouse  of  the  deceased  receive  their  allowances  before  the 
creditors  are  paid.  The  creditors  of  the  deceased,  if  their  claims 
are  recognized  as  proper  to  be  paid,  are  satisfied  from  the  prop- 
erty after  the  deductions  indicated  above,  on  condition,  in  case 
the  property  is  insufficient  to  cover  all  demands  of  the  creditors, 
that  the  general  principles  of  the  meeting  of  creditors  be 
applied. 

83 


IX.  If  the  property  of  the  deceased  does  not  exceed  10,000 
rubles,  or  in  particular  consists  of  a  farm  house,  domestic  furni- 
ture, and  means  for  economic  production  by  work,  in  either 
city  or  village,  it  comes  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
spouse  and  relatives  enumerated  in  Article  II  of  the  present 
decree,  who  are  present.  The  method  of  control  and  manage- 
ment of  the  property  is  arranged  by  agreement  between  the 
spouse  and  relatives,  and,  in  case  of  their  disagreement,  by  the 
local  tribunal. 

X.  The  present  decree  is  retroactive  as  regards  all  inheri- 
tances discovered  before  it  was  issued,  if  they  have  not  yet  been 
acquired  by  the  heirs,  or,  if  acquired,  if  they  have  not  yet  been 
taken  possession  of  by  the  heirs. 

XI.  All  suits  now  pending  respecting  inheritances,  the  pro- 
bate of  wills,  the  confirmation  of  the  rights  of  inheritance,  etc., 
are  deemed  to  be  discontinued,  and  the  respective  hereditary 
property  is  to  be  at  once  turned  over  for  administration  to  the 
local  Soviets  or  institutions  indicated  in  Article  V  of  the  present 
decree. 

Note:  Concerning  hereditary  properties  discovered  before  the 
present  decree  is  issued — properties  enumerated  in  Article  IX 
of  the  present  decree — a  special  regulation  will  be  issued. 

XII.  The  People's  Commissar  of  Justice  is  empowered,  in 
agreement  with  the  Commissariat  of  Social  Security  and  Work, 
to  issue  a  detailed  instruction  concerning  the  enforcement  of  the 
present  decree. 

The  present  decree  is  of  force  from  the  date  of  its  signature, 
and  is  to  be  put  into  operation  by  telegraph. 

President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee: 

Sverdlov 
Secretary  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee: 
Avanesov 
April  27,  1918 


Grain  Control 

THE  disastrous  undermining  of  the  country's  food  supply, 
the  serious  heritage  of  the  four  years'  war,  continues  to 
extend  more  and  more,  and  to  be  more  and  more  acute.  While 
the  consuming  provincial  Governments  are  starving,  in  the  pro- 
ducing Governments  there  are  at  the  present  moment,  as  be- 
fore, large  reserves  of  grain  of  the  harvests  of  1916  and  1917 

84 


not  yet  even  threshed.  This  grain  is  in  the  hands  of  tight-fisted 
village  dealers  and  profiteers,  of  the  village  bourgeoisie.  Well 
fed  and  well  provided  for,  having  accumulated  enormous  sums 
of  money  obtained  during  the  years  of  war,  the  village  bour- 
geoisie remains  stubbornly  deaf  and  indifferent  to  the  wailings 
of  starving  workmen  and  peasant  poverty,  and  does  not  bring 
the  grain  to  the  collecting  points.  The  grain  is  held  with  the 
hope  of  compelling  the  Government  to  raise  repeatedly  the  prices 
of  grain,  at  the  same  time  that  the  holders  sell  their  grain  at 
home  at  fabulous  prices  to  grain  speculators. 

An  end  must  be  put  to  this  obstinacy  of  the  greedy  village 
grain  profiteers.  The  food  experience  of  former  years  showed 
that  the  breaking  of  fixed  prices  and  the  denial  of  grain  monop- 
oly, while  lessening  the  possibility  of  feasting  for  our  group  of 
capitalists,  would  make  bread  completely  inaccessible  to  our 
many  millions  of  workmen  and  would  subject  them  to  inevitable 
death  from  starvation. 

The  answer  to  the  violence  of  grain  owners  toward  the  starv- 
ing poor  must  be  violence  toward  the  bourgeoisie. 

Not  a  pood  should  remain  in  the  hands  of  those  holding  the 
grain,  except  the  quantity  needed  for  sowing  the  fields  and  pro- 
visioning their  families  until  the  new  harvest. 

This  policy  must  be  put  into  force  at  once,  especially  since 
the  German  occupation  of  the  Ukraine  compels  us  to  get  along 
with  grain  resources  which  will  hardly  suffice  for  sowing  and 
curtailed  use. 

Having  considered  the  situation  thus  created,  and  taking  into 
account  that  only  with  the  most  rigid  calculation  and  equal  dis- 
tribution of  all  grain  reserves  can  Russia  pass  through  the 
food  crisis,  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  all  Russia  has 
decreed : 

1.  Confirming  the  fixity  of  the  grain  monopoly  and  fixed 
prices,  and  also  the  necessity  of  a  merciless  struggle  with  grain 
speculators,  to  compel  each  grain  owner  to  declare  the  surplus 
above  what  is  needed  to  sow  the  fields  and  for  personal  use, 
according  to  established  normal  quantities,  until  the  new  har- 
vest, and  to  surrender  the  same  within  a  week  after  the  publi- 
cation of  this  decision  in  each  village.  The  order  of  these  declar- 
ations is  to  be  determined  by  the  People's  Food  Commissar 
through  the  local  food  organizations. 

2.  To  call  upon  workmen  and  poor  peasants  to  unite  at  once 
for  a  merciless  struggle  with  grain  hoarders. 

85 


3.  To  declare  all  those  who  have  a  surplus  of  grain  and  who 
do  not  bring  it  to  the  collecting  points,  and  likewise  those  who 
waste  grain  reserves  on  illicit  distillation  of  alcohol  and  do  not 
bring  them  to  the  collecting  points,  enemies  of  the  people;  to 
turn  them  over  to  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal,  imprison  them 
for  not  less  than  ten  years,  confiscate  their  entire  property,  and 
drive  them  out  forever  from  the  communes;  while  the  distillers 
are,  besides,  to  be  condemned  to  compulsory  communal  work. 

In  case  an  excess  of  grain  which  was  not  declared  for  sur- 
render, in  compliance  with  Article  1,  is  found  in  the  possession 
of  any  one,  the  grain  is  to  be  taken  away  from  him  without  pay, 
while  the  sum,  according  to  fixed  prices,  due  for  the  undeclared 
surpluses,  is  to  be  paid,,  one-half  to  the  person  who  points  out 
the  concealed  surpluses,  after  they  have  been  placed  at  the  col- 
lecting points,  and  the  other  half  to  the  village  commune.  Dec- 
larations concerning  the  concealed  surpluses  are  made  by  the 
local  food  organizations. 

Further,  taking  into  consideration  that  the  struggle  with  the 
food  crisis  demands  the  application  of  quick  and  decisive  meas- 
ures, that  the  more  fruitful  realization  of  these  measures  de- 
mands in  its  turn  the  centralization  of  all  orders  dealing  with 
the  food  question  in  one  organization,  and  that  this  organization 
appears  to  be  the  People's  Food  Commissar,  the  Central  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  all  Russia  hereby  orders,  for  the  more 
successful  struggle  with  the  food  crisis,  that  the  People's  Food 
Commissar  be  given  the  following  powers: 

1.  To  publish  obligatory  regulations  regarding  the  food  situ- 
ation, exceeding  the  usual  limits  of  the  People's  Food  Commis- 
sar's competence. 

2.  To  abrogate  the  orders  of  local  food  bodies  and  other  or- 
ganizations contravening  the  plans  and  actions  of  the  People's 
Commissar. 

3.  To  demand  from  institutions  and  organizations  of  all  de- 
partments the  carrying  out  of  the  regulations  of  the  People's 
Food  Commissar  in  connection  with  the  food  situation  with- 
out evasions  and  at  once. 

4.  To  use  the  armed  forces  in  case  resistance  is  shown  to  the 
removal  of  food  grains  or  other  food  products. 

5.  To  dissolve  or  reorganize  the  food  agencies  in  places  where 
they  might  resist  the  orders  of  the  People's  Commissar. 

6.  To   discharge,   transfer,   turn   over  to  the  Revolutionary 

86 


Tribunal,  or  subject  to  arrest  officials  and  employees  of  all  de- 
partments and  public  organizations  in  case  of  interference  with 
the  orders  of  the  People's  Commissar. 

7.  To  transfer  the  present  powers,  in  addition  to  the  right  to 
subject  to  arrest,  above,  to  other  persons  and  institutions  in 
various  places,  with  the  approval  of  the  Council  of  the  People's 
Commissars. 

8.  All  regulations  of  the  People's  Commissar,  related  in  char- 
acter to  the  Department  of  Ways  of  Communciation  and  the 
Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy,  are  to  be  carried  through 
upon  consultation  with  the  corresponding  departments. 

9.  The  regulations  and  orders  of  the  People's  Commissar, 
issued  in  accordance  with  the  present  powers,  are  verified  by 
his  collegium,  which  has  the  right,  without  suspending  their 
operation,  of  referring  them  to  the  Council  of  Public  Commissars. 

10.  The  present  decree  becomes  effective  from  the  date  of  its 
signature  and  is  to  be  put  into  operation  by  telegraph. 

President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of 
All  Russia: 

Va.  Sverdlov 

President  of  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars: 

V.  Oulianov  (Lenin) 
Secretary  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of 
All  Russia: 

AVANESOV 
May  1U,  1918 


Government  Publications 

Taking  into  consideration  on  the  one  hand  the  idleness  which 
for  various  reasons  exists  among  printers,  and  on  the  other  the 
scarcity  of  books,  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Education 
through  its  literary  publishing  department  and  in  cooperation 
with  the  departments  of  education  outside  the  schools,  school 
departments,  and  departments  of  science  and  art,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  representatives  of  the  printers'  union  and  other 
interested  societies,  as  the  Commissariat  shall  see  fit,  and  of  ex- 
perts specially  invited  by  it,  shall  immediately  undertake  exten- 
sive publication. 

First  in  order  must  come  a  cheap  popular  edition  of  the  Rus- 

87 


sian  classics.     Those  works  for  which  the  period  of  authors' 
rights  has  ended  must  be  republished. 

The  works  of  all  authors  thus  transferred  from  private  to 
public  ownership  may,  by  a  special  order  of  the  National  Com- 
missar of  Education  regarding  each  author,  be  declared  a 
Government  monopoly,  for  a  period,  however,  not  exceeding  five 
years.  The  Commissariat  is  to  make  use  of  this  right  with  re- 
gard to  those  literary  celebrities  whose  works,  in  accordance 
with  this  law,  become  the  property  of  the  people. 

The  publication  of  these  works  may  be  arranged  in  two  series : 

1.  A  complete  scientific  edition,  the  editorship  of  which  should 
be  entrusted  to  the  department  of  Russian  language  and  letters 
of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  (after  its  democratization  and 
adaptation  to  the  new  governmental  and  public  life  of  Russia). 

2.  An  abbreviated  edition  of  selected  works.  Each  selection  is 
to  constitute  a  single,  compact  volume.  In  the  selection  the 
editor  is  to  be  guided,  among  other  considerations,  by  the  suita- 
bility of  the  works  to  the  working  people,  for  whose  benefit  these 
popular  editions  are  intended.  Both  the  entire  collection  and 
separate,  more  important  works  are  to  be  accompanied  by 
prefaces  by  authoritative  critics,  historians  of  literature,  etc. 
To  edit  these  popular  publications  a  special  collegium  should  be 
created  of  prominent  representatives  of  educational,  literary, 
and  scientific  societies,  specially  invited  experts,  and  delegates 
of  workmen's  organizations.  Editors,  confirmed  by  this  Com- 
missariat of  Publication  Control,  must  present  to  that  body  their 
plans  of  publication  together  with  their  commentaries  of  every 
description. 

The  popular  edition  of  classics  is  to  be  sold  at  cost,  and,  if 
means  shall  permit,  even  below  cost,  and  may  even  be  given 
free  through  the  libraries  which  serve  the  working  democracy. 

The  Government  Publishing  House  should  further  see  to  the 
publication  of  all  sorts  of  text-books.  The  bringing  up  to  date 
and  correction  of  old  manuals  should  be  carried  on  through  a 
special  commission  on  manuals,  consisting  of  delegates  from 
educational,  scientific,  and  democratic  organizations  and  spe- 
cially invited  experts. 

The  Government  Publishing  House  is  likewise  granted  the 
right  to  subsidize  publications,  both  periodicals  and  books,  un- 
dertaken by  societies  and  individuals  and  acknowledged  to  be 
useful  to  the  general  public,  with  the  proviso  that  these  sub- 

88 


sidies,  if  the  publication   proves   to  be  profitable,  shall  be  re- 
funded to  the  Government  as  a  first  lien. 

In  order  to  undertake  immediately  this  important  public  busi- 
ness of  the  Soviet  of  People's  Commissars,  it  is  proposed  to 
appropriate  and  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government  Com- 
missariat of  Education  the  sum  of  a  million  and  a  half  rubles. 

All  printing  orders  should  be  given  exclusively  at  the  direc- 
tion of  the  printers'  union,  which  regulates  its  distribution 
through  the  autonomous  commissariats  of  the  various  printing 
offices. 

The  People's  Commissar: 

A.  V.   LUNACHARSKY 

Secretary : 

D.  I.  Leshtshenko 


The  Nation   Press,   Inc. 

20  Vesey  Street,  New  York 
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